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Why India took 75 years to get its first tribal woman president

Editorial / Opinion Piece / Blog Post

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August 22, 2022

Why India took 75 years to get its first tribal woman president

Source: Down To Earth

In the larger scheme of things, where global capital and politics come into the picture, tribal women’s voices are missing.

Bhim Rao Ambedkar would not have thought while writing the constitutional safeguards for Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Scheduled Castes (SC) that India would take 75 years to get its first tribal president.

Why then did this happen? Do tribal people lack interest in politics? Do tribal women activists lack political orientation to join Indian politics?

Perhaps the answer lies in the nature of the Indian political system which relies hugely on vote banks. Tribal communities are used as conduits to power rather than the system empowering them.

Click here to read the full article published by Down To Earth on 4 August 2022.

Region
Author
Madhulika Sahoo and Parmit Singh
Publisher
Down To Earth
Publication year
2022
Focus areas

In the larger scheme of things, where global capital and politics come into the picture, tribal women’s voices are missing.

Bhim Rao Ambedkar would not have thought while writing the constitutional safeguards for Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Scheduled Castes (SC) that India would take 75 years to get its first tribal president.

Why then did this happen? Do tribal people lack interest in politics? Do tribal women activists lack political orientation to join Indian politics?

Perhaps the answer lies in the nature of the Indian political system which relies hugely on vote banks. Tribal communities are used as conduits to power rather than the system empowering them.

Click here to read the full article published by Down To Earth on 4 August 2022.

Region
Author
Madhulika Sahoo and Parmit Singh
Publisher
Down To Earth
Publication year
2022
Focus areas

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