ABSTRACT
This chapter follows on from the previous chapter to study the means and methods employed by the state to delegitimise the Adivasis and acquire their land for industrial development. The chapter reveals the narratives used by the state actors to promote industrialisation over agriculture to amend the 1908 Chota Nagpur Tenancy Act (CNT Act) and the 1949 Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act (SPT Act). However, the intent of the Jharkhand government is not very well hidden as the same interviewees assert that ultimately the Adivasi communities would need to be ‘modernised’ if the state is to meet its nationalist agenda because their progress is too slow. By analysing the debates on land, law, and progress, this chapter draws the conclusion that the interviewed state officials of Jharkhand aligned themselves with the theory of state-led modernisation.
