Tribal Development: A Critical Analysis of Development Programmes on Mankirdias, a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group in the Mayurbhanj District, Odisha

‘Odisha’ in India is known as one of the largest tribal-dominated states. Of late, the Economic Survey 2010–11 at the state assembly has claimed that Odisha has achieved 9.57% against the national average of 7.79%; at the same time, the state has witnessed a wide range of regional and social disparities in development, failing to address economic circumstances of the underprivileged and marginalised groups of KBK and Mayurbhanj district of Odisha. Although the state and central government has introduced an immense number of tribal development programmes and schemes, but in reality they have failed to reach the targeted population in many ways. The question remains whether there are flaws in the scheme or a lack of proper implementation of tribal development policies or a lack of awareness. The reasons may be numerous; however, less effective actions have been undertaken at the grass-root level to curb the crisis. The Mankirdia who are particularly vulnerable tribal groups of Mayurbhanj are nomadic tribal groups. The government in recent times has tried to settle the tribal groups by providing various tribal developmental schemes and programmes. This case-study has tried to critically analyse the impact of development programmes on Mankirdias on their transit phase from nomadic to settled living in the Mayurbhanj district of Odisha.