How some Tribals Break the Poverty Trap: A Case Study of Entrepreneurship Development among the Scheduled Tribe in Jharkhand

The tribal communities in India classified as scheduled tribes (ST) are known locally by different names such as Adivasis, Indigenous Communities, Aborigines, Janjati, Girijans, etc. As per the latest census data, their population is 104.55 million constituting 8.6 percent of India's population. From the perspective of socio-economic development indicators the scheduled tribes as a community are living at the bottom of the pyramid in India. (Ballabh and Batra, 2015). The community has been alienated from the land and forests on which their livelihood was intricately linked. This alienation even continued during the post-independent India and the scheduled tribals were being displaced in the name of development (Ballabh and Batra, 2013,2018). The attempts are being made by the Government and Non-Government Organizations to bring them mainstream of development. The government of India provides them reservations in the Parliament and Legislative assemblies elections, reservation of seats on higher institutions of learning and the Government jobs in proportion to their population. These attempts have only partially succeeded and the scheduled tribe community continues to struggle for their survival and livelihood. In contrast the several NGOs have made meaningful interventions and helped them to break the poverty trap and create new generation of entrepreneurs within the scheduled tribe communities. The case study will present such efforts, the process and the mobilization of the community, and their reasons for success. The case study further contributes towards public policy arena as to how the mainstreaming of the scheduled caste (SC) needs to be approached for their upliftment and development. References Ballabh, V. and P. Batra (2013), “Development Induced Displacement: Second Generation Problems”.Paper presented at IAJBS Conference on Sustainability & Business Practices: Implications for Business Schools; Saint Louis University, John Cook School of Business, U.S.A., July 14-16, 2013. Ballabh, V., and P. Batra (2015), “Socio-Economic Transformation of the Tribals in Central India: Lessons and Experiences”, Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol.70 No.3, pp. 272-282. Ballabh, V. and P. Batra (2018), “Mainstreaming Tribal Women in Development Process through Women SHGS: A case study of Jharkhand and Odisha”, In Jaya Shrivastava (ed), Gender Discrimination and Inequality in contemporary India, Delhi: Kalpaz Publications.