FOREST RIGHTS ACT OF 2006 AND NOMADIC MALAIPANDARAMS IN KERALA
Authors :Shynu VC and Rajesh Komath
Abstract
The paper tried to juxtapose the life of a nomadic tribal group and Forest Rights Act, 2006. How did this act help Malaipandarams and what are the steps to be taken to materialise the benefits of the act is a matter of discussion. A critical view has been articulated on the question of imaging homogenous life experiences of tribal group in India while formulating a policy and subsequent making of act or bills. This paper examines how far it encompasses the life world of tribal groups contextualising Malaipandarams in Kerala context and argues that cultural specificities of each group and their relationship with the forest ecology is venerated in multiform and thus an Act that addresses all tribal group as a single community mislead policy directions. This study conducted among the forest nomadic and settled tribal peoples of Malaipandarams in the forests extending from the Periyar Tiger Reserve in the south to Thenmala forest region in the foothills and valleys of the Western Ghats Forest Mountains in Kerala. Primary Data was collected through ethnographic fieldwork and participant observation with an emphasis on facts generated from the ground.
