SPECIAL ARTICLE
Mapping Violence in the Lives of Adivasi Women
A Study from Jharkhand
Kriti Sharma
The Adivasi women of Jharkhand negotiate with power
structures within the family system and society, and are
further entrapped in gender hegemonies that are part of
larger shifts in the political economy. Their lived
experiences in the urban and rural landscape of Ranchi,
a Schedule V district under the Constitution, and an
analysis of the enforcement of legal machinery in
removing or tightening the existing disparities provide
crucial insights into the sociolegal realities of the lives of
Adivasi women, thereby mapping their everyday
experiences of violence and the means available to
address their issues.
This article is based on research supported under the Adivasi Rights
Programme Council for Social Development, Hyderabad and has been
carried out under the supervision of director Kalpana Kannabiran. The
author would like to thank Vasavi Kiro for intensive discussions and
unconditional support, Rameshwar Oraon, erstwhile Chairperson,
National Commission for Scheduled Tribes for sharing his valuable
experiences, Aloka, Dipika Prasad, members of the self-help groups
(Mariyana, Sushila, Bibiana and Jowana) and other community members.
Kriti Sharma (kritisharma.nalsar@gmail.com) has a Master’s in the
Science of Law degree from the Stanford Law School which she attended
as a Fulbright–Nehru Master’s Fellow for Leadership Development (2017–18).
44
F
“ or indigenous women, gender-based violence is shaped
not only by gender discrimination within indigenous
and non-indigenous arenas but also by a context of
ongoing colonisation, militarism, racism and social exclusion;
and poverty-inducing economic and ‘development’ policies”
(FIMI 2006: 6). Active negation of the political, economic,
social and cultural rights expounded under the United Nations
(UN) Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP),
2007 has been most pronounced for the Scheduled Tribes (STs)
situated in Jharkhand. Various scholars have engaged with
their colonial and neocolonial exploitation, and this study is a
limited attempt to capture the present burdens of the tribal
women situated here.
The Annual Report of the UN Special Rapporteur on Indige-
nous Concerns (2015), a first on indigenous women, acknowl-
edges that hitherto, the specific situation of tribal women has
been neglected in policy and on the ground. This is further
exacerbated by the fact that in India, state budgets and policies
deploy gender or identity-based categories without accounting
for the intersectionality of vulnerabilities as experienced by
tribal women. Disparagingly, for a state with a significant chunk
of tribal population—26.2% of the state population is tribal, as
per the Government of Jharkhand (2018)—the state legislative
assembly does not lay out a single provision specifically for
Adivasi women in the state budgets.1
While the media coverage of crime against women has led
to legislative debates, the Tribal Sub-Plan (tsp) allocation still
does not deploy any strategy to combat the issue, except the
formation of self-help groups (SHGs—they are present in 18
districts except Santhal Pargana). Even this initiative suffers from
a dire lack of funds, and SHGs have to survive through external
support from bank loans and non-governmental organisations
(NGOs). Of course, violence against women is deeply connected
with fundamental questions of health, education (according to
the Ministry of Tribal Affairs [2014], the literacy rate of the
state’s tribal women is 46.2%), food security and other devel-
opmental agendas to alleviate poverty (56% of state tribals
live below the poverty line, according to the Ministry of Tribal
Affairs [2014]), but evidently the situation continues to remain
grim on all fronts. Most notoriously, this is due to diversion of
the TSP funds for non-tribal uses (Villatt 2014) such as massive
constructions under the Greater Ranchi Master Plan, ironically
taking place through the usurpation of tribal lands.
The legal machinery for women’s rights is also at a nascent
stage, with the State Commission for Women (SCW) established
october 20, 2018 vol lIiI no 42 EPW Economic & Political Weekly

in 2005, women police stations launched in 2008 and the legal
counselling at the women’s police stations introduced in 2010
via an SCW order. The initiatives on safe autos, legal awareness
drives, public “darbar” meetings and women police stations
continue to be limited to cities, with little penetration beyond.
Ranchi, which is the state capital, also serves as the headquar-
ters and hence, the fieldwork was conducted there in the
month of September 2016. This was particularly suitable for
interactions with activists, lawyers, political representatives,
state officials and women police officers. Detailed discussions
and sharing of case studies by them has resulted in an in-depth
understanding of prevalent attitudes and challenges faced in
the administration of justice in cases of violence against
Adivasi women.
The daily functioning of the mahila thana, Ranchi, the nodal
police office for crime against women, and its legal counse-
lling unit were observed. Interviews were also conducted in
Chatwal, a predominantly Uraon village (48.31% of the popu-
lation here is tribal, according to Census 2011) in Mandar
Tehsil, situated around 50 kilometre (km) from the capital.
Due to time constraints, this place was suitable for conducting
focused group discussions with the women’s SHGs which are
actively pursuing social and legal avenues to address gender
discrimination prevalent in the village. Extensive discussions,
both structured and unstructured, were also held with wider
village communities of Munda, Ho and Uraon tribes; with
groups consisting of both women and men, who reside in the
neighbouring villages within the district.
Neo-liberalist Aggression on Tribal Women
The International Labour Organization Convention 169 on
Indigenous and Tribal Peoples and Article 10 of the Undrip
establish the primacy of tribals on the question of their land
rights and mandate “free, prior and informed consent” for “in-
clusive developmental process,” with an option of return to the
land once the project is over and the land has been restored.
The constitutional guarantees of tribal autonomy and self-gov-
ernance, along with the aforesaid international principles
have been institutionalised through various enactments (re-
lated to self-governance, forest rights and land acquisition
laws),2 particularly over the last few decades. Yet, acknowl-
edging the undue burden of displacement on indigenous peo-
ple, the UN Special Rapporteur Report on Indigenous Issues
(2003) highlighted that local mechanisms have not been effec-
tive in stopping the unabated exploitation—for instance, 55%
of the displaced population in India are Adivasis (Khalid
2017)—and protective laws are often ignored during the pro-
cess of industrialisation.
In independent India, the maximum alienation of land
(10,48,93 acres between 1947 and 2005, as per the Ministry of
Rural Development), has occurred in Jharkhand (Human
Rights Law Network 2015; Srivastava 2018) and one of the rea-
sons for the demand of independent Jharkhand for Adivasis3
was to give them control over resources. However, since the
inception of the state in 2000, at least 102 memoranda of
understanding have been signed by the state government with
Economic & Political Weekly EPW october 20, 2018 vol lIiI no 42
SPECIAL ARTICLE
private parties, in breach of the fiduciary duty towards the
tribals. There have been aggressive efforts by the state legisla-
ture to usurp tribal lands through various means, such as
diluting powers of the gram sabha, acquiring land under exempt
categories of “public purpose” and repeatedly attempting
legislative amendments to allow land transfers to non-tribals.
Such involuntary and forced resettlement has negative con-
sequences as it
destroys productive assets and disorganises production systems,
and creates a high risk of chronic impoverishment that typically oc-
curs along one or several of the following dimensions: landlessness,
joblessness, homelessness, marginalisation, food insecurity, mor-
bidity, social disarticulation and loss of access to common property.
(Cernea 2004: 14–26)
Innumerable studies have shown that due to displacement pro-
jects, there are additional burdens faced by women, especially
those pertaining to areas such as health, sanitation, housing,
electricity, water, job security, food security, etc, and the wom-
en also suffer from mental distress, cultural shock and other
disadvantages (Pandey and Rout 2004). In particular for Adi-
vasi women, the loss of common property and withdrawal of
social support systems can lead to extreme marginalisation
(Parasuraman 1993), compounded with the issue of social ex-
clusion in rehabilitation and resettlement policies, such as
only providing monetary compensation, job security to one
male member or non-inclusion of households headed by wom-
en—widow, single or otherwise (Thukral 1996). As an excerpt
from the interview with an ex-member of Jharkhand Women’s
Commission suggests:
We have understood what the loss of land means for us Adivasi women
and with it the loss of livelihood, access to forest and the bari (open
space) and after displacement squatting in cramped slums with no
water, electricity, disease ridden or dead children and no school; and
soon enough when money evaporates, physical and mental tortures
starts after alcohol consumption and by then the woman has already
lost everything. (personal interview 2016)
Further, discrimination is expected in the labour market as
a woman and an unskilled labourer (Rao 2010: 219). These
vulnerabilities greatly increase the risk of gender-based vio-
lence and, therefore, in Jharkhand, women have been at the
forefront of every major displacement project since the Koel-
Karo dam struggle and the army’s field range in Netarhat.
When the women’s movement started in Jharkhand in the 1980s
and 1990s, it was initially city based with protests against the com-
mon issues of dowry and sati because Roop Kanwar who was made
sati in 1987 in Rajasthan and was a bride from Jharkhand. Soon we
realised what was happening in our rural backyard when we started
hearing cases of rape from the mines. One Falguni Manjhi, a 20-year-
old woman lost her land to East Parej Coal mines in 1993 and started
working as a labourer along with other villagers of Fusri in Charhi
region of Mandu, travelling 15 miles per day for `120 a week. On
one such collection day, she was instead gang raped by the munshi
and thekedaar together and then murdered. She was found dead
by her husband, with the money protectively wrapped to her saree
corner. When we go to the field numerous such incidences came out.
(personal interview 2016)
Thus, there is a critical nexus between individual cases of
violence on women and the deprivation of the collective rights
45
SPECIAL ARTICLE
of Adivasi communities. Neo-liberal agendas and “bureaucrat-
ic governmentality” exercised through the medium of colonial
laws has led to the brutal state repression of Adivasis, inflict-
ing not just economic violence, but both physical harm (such
as through armed conflict and militarisation) and mental dis-
tress. The Planning Commission 2008 report acknowledges
that in some places the Naxalite movement has been more suc-
cessful in helping the landless, while governments have failed.
To change the status quo, primacy has to be given to acco-
untability over outcomes, in order to make progressive legisla-
tions such as the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparen-
cy in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act,
2013 successful. The effectual control of decision-making has
to be handed over to the indigenous communities in support of
the court rulings of the Samatha v State (1997) and Orissa Mining
Corporation v Ministry of Environment (2013) cases. Various
such measures have been taken in other jurisdictions, includ-
ing dialoguing with the communities when objections are
raised, putting in place capacity-building exercises to aid legal
decision-making (New Zealand) and placing a moratorium of
5–10 years once tribal councils reject the use of their village for
a development project (Australia) (Commonwealth of Austral-
ia 2008). The state needs to place tribal women and men at the
centre as members of the environmental assessment board
and as project authorities, rather than exercising force and
engaging in brutal killings to influence their decision-making.
Related to this, the neo-liberalist agenda and active militari-
sation go hand in hand, and 11 districts in Jharkhand remain
most affected by conflict between the “Naxals” and the mili-
tary, as part of the “red corridor” bordering with neighbouring
states. Chhattisgarh (3,111) and Jharkhand (3,104) have the
highest number of “Naxal-related” incidents and casualties in
the country according to available data from 2007–124 (Bhow-
mick 2013), notwithstanding the extrajudicial killings, rapes,
tortures and sexual assaults that go unaccounted. The then
chairperson, National Commission for Scheduled Castes,
Rameshwar Oreon, said,
I am aware of the situation of tribal women in conflict areas. In 2015
in Bijapur district, Chhattisgarh, around dozens of tribal women were
assaulted and raped with force by the police, while the CRPF [Central
Reserve Police Force] stood outside the villages as guards. The district
police went in, demanded a feast, ate bakra (mutton), drank alcohol,
took away goods and went on a rampage but mostly these cases don’t
reach us. I think CRPF should be trained and not think tribal wom-
en are easy, cheap and that we can do anything to them. They call
us uncivilised, we find their behaviour to be uncivilised.5 (personal
interview 2016)
Violence in the Name of Tradition
The belief in spirits (the good) and witches (the bad) has been
a central tenet of the Adivasi life. In the postcolonial develop-
ment regime (1970s–1980s onwards), there has again been a
remarkable rise in witchcraft-related murders (Kaur 2012). The
accusation of sorcery or witchcraft, argue feminist scholars,
cannot be given religious–social sanctity as this is often a garb
to exploit Adivasi women, though men are sometimes accused
too. Accusations are often deployed due to social and gender
46
dynamics, such as by family members wanting to usurp land,
particularly of an old, single or widowed Adivasi woman
(Nathan and Kelkar 2006: 74–75); due to superstitions related
to deaths which are otherwise caused by lack of health and
sanitation, and no access to public health systems (Kannabiran
2012: 254); as a lesson for spurning the invitation for a physical
relationship from a male member; or for raising voices
against patriarchal exploitation by local activists and health
workers. “Witch accusations are extremely common and hurled
against each other even amongst family members in matrimo-
nial, property or family dispute but you never know when
these could be acted upon,” informs the mahila thana inspector
at Ranchi. A member of an SHG shared the following account:
Since a widow lives alone, everyone pressurises her. If she sits with
any male then people say she is living off him. In my own case, any
interaction with a male even if he is a brother or a relative is looked
down upon. I do not have a living husband, so my mother-in-law
objects to my interaction with even my brother-in-law’s son. Even if
I want to seek help from him for money or any emergency the family
members taunt and thus the support system is withdrawn. This puts
me in a precarious situation. Added with the prevalence of supersti-
tion, even an instance such as a death of a child or a cow/goat could
turn the tide against a woman. Just last year five elderly ladies were
publicly humiliated and killed by the village mob in the opposite vil-
lage Marai Toli when a schoolboy died and police were not allowed to
even enter the village initially. (personal interview 2016)
The accusation of witchcraft may eventually subside or ten-
sions could escalate to any point leading to humiliation, sham-
ing and demonising the victim, and can even lead to rape or
cold-blooded murder. The complicity or ignoring of such acts
by village chiefs and community members, active involvement of
ojhas (faith healers), along with vulnerabilities of the accused
women and their families complicate the situation. Nima
Kumari asked her husband in the military to return immedi-
ately and address the panchayat when she heard whispers of
witchcraft allegations against her. However, few have a simi-
lar recourse, and the option of filing a legal case is almost non-
existent. The first hurdle is that the victim does not know
when to act and legal process is only initiated after an act of
violence is committed. Maomi (30–35 years old) was attacked
with an axe and killed while watching children play, several
years after her brother had left for Jamshedpur and her mother
expired. She had hesitated in taking legal action earlier as she
had felt that the “village atmosphere looks fine” and that the
allegations would be forgotten in due course of time.
The presence of the police at the time of the commission of
the act is rare, and subsequent reporting and evidence in not
forthcoming. Assuming the woman approaches the police dur-
ing the gestation period between the allegation and wrongful
action, for the most part, the police is not trained for strategic
legal intervention. Mahila thana staff members admit that
they have never intervened in witch-hunting cases. Before
1999, police officers treated these cases as family disputes, and
even after the enactment of Bihar Prevention of Witch (Daain)
Practices Act, 1999, which was later adopted by Jharkhand as
the Prevention of Witch-hunting (Dayan Pratha) Act, 2001, the
police continue to treat them as internal family or property
october 20, 2018 vol lIiI no 42 EPW Economic & Political Weekly

matters unless a grievous offence is committed, making it dif-
ficult to lodge a criminal complaint under the first information
report (FIR).
In cases where an FIR is filed, the evidence is extremely hard
to gather as witnesses turn hostile due to fear and pressure
from the involved parties. Charges should be framed using the
special law compounded with the Indian Penal Code (IPC),
1860. Often due to faulty investigations, the prosecution is un-
able to establish the motive of the accused in the courts. Poor
prosecution leads to a high rate of acquittals and bails. Mean-
while, as with most cases of violence against women in India,
in the rare circumstance where the victim files a complaint,
commuting from remote areas with little knowledge of court
procedures and limited monetary means make for an extremely
harrowing process and many give up halfway or “compromise.”
When a single woman (like Maomi) is murdered, there is
usually no immediate family member to follow-up, unless
social activists and the media intervene.
Thus, Jharkhand records the highest number of witchcraft-
related cases in the country, and though such crimes often go
unreported, in the last decade (2007 to mid-2016) at least
3,854 such cases have occurred within the state, according to
the High Court of Jharkhand in the Court On Its Own Motion v
The State of Jharkhand (2015) case.6 Yet, the court in its order
dated 27 July 2016 highlighted the failure of state efforts and
awareness drive campaigns. Activists quibble that there is only
one educational poster in the whole state at Kalyan Vibhav,
that too in English. Though in 2016 the state machinery called
public hearings on dayan pratha (witch-hunting), introduced
fast track courts in five districts and allocated compensation
for family members, these piecemeal efforts remain far from
effective. The legal machinery needs to approach these cases
with greater sensitivity to factors such as gender and socio-
economic status, and approach the issue with a broadened
understanding of crime against women (under the IPC amend-
ment, 2013). It needs to ensure social, legal and psychological
support for the victim starting from the preliminary stages of
the trial (Mehra and Agrawal 2016).
Violence and Indigenous Concerns
The relative autonomy and freedom accorded to women in
tribal communities has been well-recorded (Roy Burman
2012).7 Traditionally, there are no strict taboos related to
choice in marriages, sex and live-in relationships, and tribal
customs of Gotul, Gharghusiya and Dhumkuriya Pratha are
notable. However, there continues to be a high prevalence of
child marriage, with 55.7% of girls marrying below the age of
18 years, the third highest ratio of child marriage in the country
(Planning Commission 2015: 55).
Domestic violence has been internalised in the society as
it is well known that domestic violence becomes more widespread
when communities, families, and couples are subjected to poverty,
armed conflict, or social upheaval, particularly of the kind that upsets
conventional gender roles. (FIMI 2006: 27)
The inspector of Ranchi mahila thana estimates that 15 out of
20 cases from the tribal community are of domestic violence,
Economic & Political Weekly EPW october 20, 2018 vol lIiI no 42
SPECIAL ARTICLE
where the tribal woman is often a minor, either with children
or pregnant, at times having entered the relationship at a
young age of 8–15 years. The tribal women bear violence till
the time their partners abandon them or renege on the prom-
ise of a marriage after being in a live-in set-up, whereupon the
women seek help from the police.8 This problem has been
made acute by non-tribal and tribal men who marry or devel-
op a relationship with young girls for trafficking and prostitu-
tion, usurpation of property or mere convenience. In 2015,
Jharkhand reported 1,654 cases of cruelty and 1,522 cases of
dowry (highest in India)—a trend seeping into the tribal society
from dominant groups (NCRB 2015). At the Ranchi women
police station, however, legal recourse was discouraged by the
police, “depending on the factual scenario or the need to save
the relationship and protect from a long legal process.” A legal
counsellor said:
A tribal girl had a live-in relationship for 10 years but after domestic
abuse, the partner left her. Mahila thana took no action for one month,
then the boy appeared stating his wish to “take her back.” The girl was
not in agreement and wanted to pursue the case but the thana was
given a bribe so the case could not progress. No support from natal
family came forward, she was vilified by neighbours, her house was
ransacked and goods were damaged by her partner. Ultimately, when
no recourse was left, the girl left for the Naxalite movement. This is
the third case where I know a woman left for the Naxal movement in
similar circumstances. (personal interview 2016)
In the rural context in Chatwal village, tribal women are
married before the age of 18, not only due to prevalent tradi-
tions and lack of educational avenues, but also due to the fear
of trafficking or elopement. Alongside marital relationships,
live-in relationships were prevalent in the village, which were
also disadvantageous to the women in some cases. For ins-
tance, three cases of live-in relations were present in the
village where married men were with another partner they
had met through brick and kiln work.9 Domestic violence was
voiced as a key concern faced by tribal households as men hold
power, with the women’s SHG pinning alcohol abuse and pov-
erty as additional factors, and the closure of the village alcohol
shop as a key issue. The political–business nexus of alcohol
shops across Bihar and Jharkhand has faced similar opposition
from women’s groups. The Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act,
2016 introduced a ban in Bihar, though in the legal challenge
the Patna High Court strangely held right to liquor to be “a
fundamental right to privacy” and the final decision is pending
in the Supreme Court (Confederation of Indian Alcoholic
Beverages Companies v State of Bihar 2016). While drinking of
mahua has been part of tribal culture, the tribal women
oppose foreign liquor shops, which they believe have intensi-
fied the problem.
On the issue of inheritance and ownership of land, it was
found that no tribal woman has gained such rights in the
village and customary practices of ghar jamai and taben jom
(in Santhals) were known but not very widely practised. The
position of custom rule of Uraon was clarified in Sinta Munda
and Others v Jonathan Munda (1968):
The parties are governed by their customary laws under which the
widow does not inherit the properties of her husband and neither does
47
SPECIAL ARTICLE
the married daughter inherit the properties of her father. If a person
dies without a male issue, then his widow and unmarried daughter
hold the properties of her husband/father in lieu of their mainte-
nance. This right to hold the properties in lieu of maintenance also
entitles a widow a life interest in the properties and she is entitled to
remain in possession of the properties as a limited owner and as long
as she is in such possession, her possession cannot in any way mature
to an absolute title of ownership as against the rightful heirs of the
deceased. The widow has, therefore, no power to alienate the proper-
ties by sale or by gift.
Thus, in a 10-village survey in Jharkhand, only 4% of hous-
ing plots and 3% of agricultural plots were found to be owned
solely or jointly by women, in contrast to 59% owned by men
(Chandran 2016). Yet, in Madhu Kishwar and Others v State of
Bihar and Others (1986), the Supreme Court refused to strike
down a similar custom and urged that inheritance claims should
be decided on a factual basis, with due consideration of women’s
rights. This judgment not only failed the petitioner but is widely
understood on the ground as unequivocally establishing the
customary law. Today in individual cases the women not only
have to navigate for kin and family support, but also the few
who dare to pursue legal avenues face legal impediments as
opposition lawyers strongly challenge their standing in the court.
Recently, in Bahadur v Bratiya (2015), the Himachal Pradesh
High Court recognised equal rights of Gaddi women in inherit-
ance, though under extremely different circumstances.10
A major impediment in the argument for land rights for trib-
al women in Jharkhand is the method of acquiring tribal land
by non-tribals through marrying local tribal women and
circumventing land alienation laws (Xaxa 2008: 480). Thus,
for tribal women marrying outside, the ceremony of bithala11
leads to social ostracism and fine imposed on the family,
unless the parents formally cut ties with the daughter and pro-
vide a feast to the village. There have been instances where
tribal councils or miscreant elements of the village have infli-
cted violence—raped tribal women or killed their husband/
partner for not toeing the line—leaving no option for similarly
situated couples but to elope. Finally, though there is extreme
gender imparity in land rights, it is now recognised that the
ownership of land alone with an unequal partnership of men
due to displacement and distress migration (Rao 2005: 2516)
can be equally burdening for the women, as discussed ahead.
Migrational Burdens on Indigenous Women
On an average, only 19% of the ST population are cultivators in
Mandar district, and others come in the category of agricultural
labourers (both main and marginal) or “other work” category.
Since land fertility provides for only one crop, in the agricultur-
ally lean season, many venture either to work at mines in Bokaro,
Jamshedpur or Dhanbad or other states for various occupations.
Forty-nine percent of the population (1,201 of 2,447 people, as
per the Census 2011) in the village is illiterate and their occu-
pational scope upon outmigration is fairly limited to within
the unorganised sector. Few male members who have garnered
white-collar jobs are highly respected within the community.
Though cultivation and access to the forest is curbed at
some places in neighbouring districts due to threats of Naxals,
48
leading to outmigration, Chatwal does not face this situation.
There is poverty and many migrate to accumulate cash (around
`20,000– `25,000 are the reported earnings for six months of
work) and help invest in the home—to get pucca house, invest
in farming, pay-off loans, savings, etc. Migration also provides
an escape route from matrimonial, family and community
feuds, including accusations of witchcraft and choice marri-
ages; and particularly attracts youngsters who wish to explore
and enjoy freedom. Some return seasonally or find permanent
employment avenues in the city, though all participants
complain of inhuman conditions and exploitation at work sites.
Trafficking and Child Labour
Of serious concern here is the vulnerability of minor children
procured under trafficking rackets. Many young girls fall into
the trap of sexual trafficking, perform domestic labour in in-
human conditions or are sold as brides in “women-starved”
states. Some end up as bonded labourers for farms or the
carpet industry but very few are rescued under the Bonded
Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976. I was informed of cases
in Chatwal where close relatives were involved and even
known dalals (brokers) are present who form a chain with
street vendors to provide the phone for arrangements between
the girl and the dalal. The girls may leave the village out of
their own choice with a “friend”12 without knowing that they
may be exploited. The parents may or may not object or them-
selves approach for a liaison, and in some instances assist in
hoodwinking the vigilance at Ranchi station by accompanying
the girl till a few stations, from where they return, and the girl
and the dalal go onwards. A member of the SHG revealed:
From our village, one young minor girl was taken by her sister and
she returned to the village only at the age of 20–22 with a man of
her grandfather’s age who had been “keeping” her for nine years after
he found her raped on the street near the hospital where he worked.
Then four minor girls who left through a lady dalal (a regular visitor)
went untraceable, and after a year only one returned pregnant and
died within two months due to an unknown disease. In 2015, two girls
of 6th and 7th standard were taken on 11 April and 19 April, and were
found dead on the train. When dead bodies were brought to the vil-
lage it was a major turning point which deterred people from sending
young children to a great extent. (personal interview 2016)
With rudimentary facilities at the village primary school,
children hardly develop interest in studies there and prefer to
bunk school to earn at the nearby eit bhatti (brick kiln), where
a six-year-old child can break coal, a nine to 10-year-old can
carry bricks and 12 to 13-year-olds can carry up to 10 bricks and
be paid accordingly. Despite the 2016 amendment to the Child
Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 with stringent
punishments (while making it a cognisable offence and limiting
work at hazardous industries), inspectors remain non-existent
on the ground and child labour continues across the country.
According to the Global Report on Trafficking in Persons
(2012), 55%–60% of all trafficked victims are women, and 27%
are children. India has adopted the Resolution on the UN Global
Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons, 2010 and in
2011, internationally reiterated its commitment as a signatory
to the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in
Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementing the
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 SPECIAL ARTICLE

United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized sites, many women and their children are also abandoned by
Crime, 2000. However, this has not translated into effective their live-in partners. As Vasavi Kiro reports, “At one time, the
laws and policies. The archaic Immoral Traffic (Prevention) government found 3,000 cases of destitute women abandoned
Act, 1956 still persists while the anti-human trafficking bills by their partners (migrants from Bihar and Chhattisgarh) after
introduced in 2016 without consultation with civil society have closure of a mine” (personal interview 2016). On the other hand,
several lacunae (Seshu and Pai 2016). in Chatwal village, many couples not involved with agricultural
India informed the world community in 2013 that it has “a activities leave their children with larger families when they mi-
comprehensive scheme for prevention of trafficking, rescue, grate. The women take care of cultivation or work as agricul-
rehabilitation and reintegration and repatriation is already in tural labourers, apart from taking care of the bari and home,
place” (Mukerji 2013), that is clearly lacking on the ground. while the men migrate. Therefore, among the main workers, 67
The Anti-trafficking Nodal Cells at the centre and in the states (19.4%) are women cultivators and in marginal agricultural
lack a cohesive interstate police network. The Jharkhand labourers, the ratio of women is higher than men (Table 1).
police launched different phases of Operation Muskaan, under
which in 2015, 700 children were rescued. However, due to the Health and Reproductive Freedoms
lack of comprehensive rehabilitation schemes, there have been Far from making women’s health a priority in compliance with
many instances where the rescued teenagers have been a commitment to achieving gender justice, their healthcare is
reabsorbed into the exploitative trade. Without rehabilitation tied to their “reproductive duties,” as one responsible for popu-
and counselling, abused women and children are unable to lation stabilisation through sterilisation, or as vulnerable mothers
deal with trauma, fear experiencing shame at their native due to child marriage, lack of spacing, care and nourishment.
place and often return to the same trade. When it comes to maternal health, Jharkhand still fares badly
Worryingly, there are extremely low conviction rates for and has a maternal mortality rate of 245 (261 among tribal
such crimes. For instance, in Vikram Sinha v State of Jharkhand women) as compared to 174 of India. Four in 10 women are
(2013), an Uraon girl of about 18 years “fell” from the third malnourished and 70.6% tribal women of Jharkhand suffer from
floor of her employers’ house in Ranchi town, where she had anaemia (as compared to 56.2% in India) (National Family Health
been working for five years. According to her family members, Survey III 2005). Just 10.4% rural women and 25.3% urban
she was “not taken care of,” “working round the clock,” “not women receive a full antenatal check-up; only 38.3% rural
allowed to return to the village” and “not paid adequately.” women have institutional delivery or 26.6% have skilled health
However, the high court quashed and discharged all charges personnel at home, overall making 49.5% deliveries as safe;
under the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976, the and a meagre 25.4% receive financial assistance through the
Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000 and Janani Suraksha Yojana scheme (Office of the Registrar General
Sections 370 and 374 of the IPC, deeming her work as “volun- Table 2: Shortfalls in the Healthcare System, Jharkhand
tary” and outside the purview of these acts. Aware of such Positions Required In Place Shortfall Percentage
physical, sexual and psychological exploitation of domestic State health centres 6,060 3,957 -35
workers, civil society has been demanding a comprehensive Public health centres 966 327 -66
law for domestic workers which ensures adequate minimum Community health centres 241 188 -22
wages, mandatory registration and established standards of ANM female 3,957 6,692 +69
Health workers female 4,284 7,170 +67
work conditions. While the legislature tabled and passed
Health workers male 3,957 386 -90.25
the Jharkhand Private Placement Agencies and Domestic
Doctors 327 372 +13
Workers (Regulation) Act, 2016 without debate or consulta-
Gynaecologists 188 32 -83
tion, the destination states, particularly Delhi and the centre Physicians 188 51 -73
have failed to actively pursue this key issue. Surgeons 188 36 -81
Lastly, there are additional burdens tribal women face either ANM - auxiliary nurse midwifery (most hired on contractual basis).
due to exploitation at worksite or, if they stay back, on account Source: Rural Health Statistics, 2014–15, Statistics Division, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

of distress after the migration of husbands. Women activists and Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs nd). The
complain about the serious lack of legal avenues when tribal situation is made acute with the following shortfalls in the
women are exploited at the worksite, frequently by site incharges healthcare system, as evident from the data in Table 2.
or employers. After the closure of coal mines or construction In terms of healthcare personnel, there is an extreme shortage
Table 1: Working Population in Chatwal Village of specialised doctors and gynaecologists. The
Main Workers Marginal Workers Fact-finding Mission to Godda by the National
Total Main Cultivation Agricultural Household Others Marginal 3–6 Months 3–6 Months
Alliance for Maternal Health and Human
Workers Workers Labourer Industry Workers Cultivation Agricultural
Labourer Rights (2014) after 23 maternal deaths, including
Total 862 663 345 195 3 120 199 39 148 from Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups
M 636 544 278 157 2 107 92 16 66 (PVTG), points out that healthcare provisions are
F 226 119 67 38 1 13 107 23 82 not women-centric—sahiyas (health workers)
(The remaining marginal workers work for more than three months).
Source: Census Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, Jharkhand Census 2011, Ministry of Home
are not actively provided resources, mamta
Affairs, Government of India. vahan (ambulance service) do not provide return
Economic & Political Weekly EPW october 20, 2018 vol lIiI no 42 49
SPECIAL ARTICLE

service, cross-border hospitals are closer but refuse treatment and
antenatal care members focus only on immunisation. Lan-
guage and administrative barriers persist (deaths, for example,
are not being recorded). Tribal women are averse to medicines,
yet supplements are provided without incorporating traditional
foodgrains and food patterns in the public distribution system
(PDS) or looking into ethnomedicines. Due to acute shortage, the
medicine expenditure is a burden on the families who in any
case are more trusting of local ojhas, vedhs and quacks.
Additionally, starvation and hunger deaths are common
phenomena ignored by the state officials who termed it “food
poisoning” in a written affidavit to the Supreme Court (PUCL v
Union of India 2007). This problem is acute in the drought-prone
Palamu district and amongst the PVTGs. Despite the fundamental
right to food security, access to forest produce is curtailed while
the PDS in tribal areas functions poorly. Most health concerns—
malaria, dengue, diarrhoea, jaundice and endemic kinds of
fever are related to food security, lack of sanitation, non-avail-
ability of clean water and other basic necessities of life. Com-
municable diseases such as HIV and tuberculosis are prevalent.
While sexually transmitted diseases and HIV transmitted to
women often go unreported, medicines for tuberculosis are
not accompanied by proper nutritional intake.
At the beginning of the last century, the US government agg-
ressively pursued sterilisation on the basis of the pseudoscience
of eugenics, targeting minority women who were destitute and
indigenous, women of colour, the disabled and sex workers under
a policy held constitutional by a vote of eight to one in Buck v
Bell (1927), till it was implicitly overturned in 1942 (Skinner v
Oklahoma 1942). Today in India, the government under the
garb of public health (entry six, state list), aggressively pursues
the agenda of population control and family planning (entry
20, concurrent list) by targeting unaware, ill-informed, coerced,
bribed poor women from tribal, Dalit and disabled communi-
ties. The annual report of the Department of Health and Fam-
ily Welfare (2015–16) reports that 1,10,498 females, as com-
pared to 3,815 men, were sterilised in the last year alone.
The Population Division of UN notes such extraordinary levels
of sterilisation in India (65% of all contraceptive methods) and
points out a “potential mismatch between what is being offered
and what women would like.” To churn such extraordinary
numbers, mass camps are organised such as one in Chatra,
Jharkhand in 2015, where 43 women were sterilised overnight
under torchlight, despite a challenge to such practices (leading
to 363 deaths between 2010 and 2013) then being sub judice
under Devika Biswas v Union of India and Others (2016). Taking

Money, Banking & Finance

March 31, 2018
Introduction – Partha Ray, Rohit Azad
SOME THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Some Analytics of Demonetisation – Mihir Rakshit
Monetary Economics of Fascism and a Working-class Alternative – Romar Correa
Plurality in Teaching Macroeconomics – Rohit Azad
Mortgage Loans, Risky Lending, and Crisis: A Macroeconomic Analysis – Priti Mendiratta Arora, Mausumi Das, Ananya Ghosh Dastidar
Foreign Finance, Real Exchange Rate, and Macroeconomic Performance in India – Vineet Kohli
MONETARY POLICY
Demand-led Growth Slowdown and Inflation Targeting in India – Ashima Goyal
The Story of Currency in Circulation: Are We Back to Square One after Demonetisation? – Kaushik Bhattacharya, Sunny Kumar Singh
Can Central Banks Reduce Inflation? Evidence from 158 Countries – Surajit Das, Manpreet Kaur
Long-run Determinants of Sovereign Bond Yields – Geetima Das Krishna, Biswajit Nag
Appetite for Official Reserves – M Ramachandran, Stefy Carmel
BANKING
The Banking Conundrum: Non-performing Assets and Neo-liberal Reform – C P Chandrasekhar, Jayati Ghosh
Engineering Banking Sector Recovery and Growth – A Vasudevan
Dynamics of Competition in the Indian Banking Sector – Pankaj Sinha, Sakshi Sharma
FINANCIAL INCLUSION
Deciphering Financial Literacy in India: Evidence from States – Manuela Kristin Günther, Saibal Ghosh
Can Jan Dhan Yojana Achieve Financial Inclusion? – Dipa Sinha, Rohit Azad

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50 october 20, 2018 vol lIiI no 42 EPW Economic & Political Weekly
 SPECIAL ARTICLE

note in the final hearing (2016), the Court asked the state to
end the oppressive practice of sterilising women in large
camps and to introduce a National Health Policy. It called for a
transparent process and protocol and taking of informed con-
sent from the women. However, this needs to be effectively
translated in practice on the ground level.
Conclusions
Legal pluralism, which was recognised to an extent by the colonial
rule (Sundar 2005), effectively broke down post independence.
Today, tribal traditional systems mostly hold over the poorest
and rural populations. We only hear about the traditional
councils when they are involved in cases of violence like witch-
hunting or honour killings (Dhagamwar 2013: 1491). Their
adjudications particularly on family, matrimonial and commu-
nity issues can be detrimental to women. However, local
women argue for egalitarian changes in the traditional system
rather than abolition, pointing out that the formal legal system
is alien and has not served them any better. In fact, Jharkhand
has only seen elections of the panchayati raj twice (in 2010
and 2015) while on the other hand, traditional systems have
been dismantled, and the vacuum has created space for rise
of miscreants in the villages.
At the institutional level, accessibility is a major barrier for
elderly and troubled women who have to throng the capital,
without access to basic provisions, sitting on the floor and
waiting for hours, which is an ordeal. The tribal languages, laws
and customs are not known to the local magistrates, police officers
and lawyers, and English/Hindi operates as the language of
the rulers. The role of women in traditional authorities has
effectively broken down and crucially the study of customary
laws has failed to capture egalitarian practices, leading to non-
translation as legal rights. Innovative ways have to be devised
to deliver justice amidst existent bureaucratic loopholes. For
example, there is a practice at the SCW to keep the matter listed in
their office till the police ensures a complete compliance of the
order. If the petitioner has filed any simultaneous petition at
the local court, the commission also monitors these court pro-
ceedings. In terms of representation, apart from 50% of reser-
vation at panchayat levels, five (out of 80) members of the
legislative assembly are tribal women, and in 2015, the state had
its first female governor from the tribal community.
However, overarchingly, the positions in judiciary, police
and administration go to dominant castes, particularly at the
higher levels. As witnessed by the author, exploitation by the
police is starkly evident, where even women police officers
seek to broker deals instead of displaying gender sensitivity in
cases, while the local police are hand in glove with the power-
ful elements of the village. When such instances were brought
to the notice of an inspector, acknowledging these as a “part of
the system,” it was blamed on the recruitment of “lower castes”
and tribal women as junior officers. The police officers com-
plain of a dire lack of funding and technology, excessive “very
important persons” duty, and non-bifurcation of patrolling
and investigation activities. Logistically, the mahila thanas do
not have outreach beyond town area, while the local police
stations do not prioritise cases of violence against women.
There has been a call for reforms in the police for long, from
Prakash Singh v Union of India (2006) to the Model Police Bill
of 2006 and 2015. Some tribal areas are still governed by the
Chota Nagpur Rural Police Act, 1914 and, going by the rules,
there is under-policing for crimes against women with no data
available on the crimes that the police refused to prosecute.
One effective measure is of patrolling by community women
(Capobianco 2009), a concept also taken on by the Meitei
community women as meira paibi (torchbearer) in Manipur.
In Jharkhand too, the SHGs play a critical role in connecting
women to the law, in reporting violence, as peacekeepers and
as active participants in the community. In Mandar district,
the women from the SHGs, through their relentless efforts in
assisting community members in pension, medical and other
schemes, have gained access to homes and are creating open
spaces for dialogues on issues of violence. Through profitable
ventures of purchasing goats and chickens for the collective bari,
in Chatwal, they provide means of economic support otherwise
lacking for women. In 2015, they effectively championed and
brought electricity and a road to the village.
However, when the Adivasi women and SHG members
approach the police and the legal machinery with cases of
crime against tribal women, they experience indifference
from the authorities. This negligence of the police and
the state in exercising their discretionary powers and through
placing systematic barriers are actionable wrongs. In an
international case of Jessica Gonzales v The United States (2011),
the US government was found responsible for its failure to
prosecute 62% of the criminal cases, and 75% of rape and
sexual assaults on native American women. Not providing
legal remedies is a human rights violation of the Adivasi
women who deserve equal protection under Article 14 of the
Constitution. The challenge now, lies with the government to
live up to expected standards, and come up with effective
policies and legal remedies.

Notes
1 From 2017, the state legislative assembly of
Jharkhand introduced gender budgeting by
compiling already introduced schemes which
have 30% or more allocation for women.
2 Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act,
1996, the Scheduled Tribes and Other Tra-
ditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest
Rights) Act, 2006, Chota Nagpur Tenancy Act,
1908, Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act, 1949 and
Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettle-
ment Act, 2013.
3 According to the Annual Report of the Ministry
of Rural Development (2005), 86,291 cases reg-
arding Adivasi land alienation were filed for
10,48,93 acres of land (Srivastava 2018).
4 The data is available for six peak years of casu-
alties, after which there has been a decline in
violence.
5 The National Human Rights Commission held
16 sexual assault cases to be true, awaiting 19
more testimonies and it has sent a show-cause
notice to the state government.
6 WP (PIL) No 3684 of 2015.
7 One traditional practice often retold to the au-
thor is of accepting beautiful hair combs from
the proposing parties by women, while con-
firming a partnership with one of them through
the act of eating a betel nut.
8 In some cases, charges of rape or under Protec-
tion of Children from Sexual Offences Act,
2012 can be evoked by the police if it seeks to
penalise men for offending morality.
9 The first wife stays back if she is dependent
with no support from natal family or to stake
inheritance claims for children. She may get

Economic & Political Weekly EPW october 20, 2018 vol lIiI no 42 51
SPECIAL ARTICLE
support from in-laws as the “legitimate” one. In
one case, the first wife was chased away, while
in some cases the husbands do not reveal the
presence of another partner at the work sites.
10 It established gaddi customary laws to be part
of Hindu law and the petitioners could not es-
tablish concretely that the custom excluded
women from inheritance.
11 The Santhals have the ceremony of “bithala”
where the family members of the eloped girl or
boy are excommunicated in front of the whole
community and a fine is imposed on them for
violating social norms.
12 A friend could mean a male with whom she is
in a relationship or otherwise, or a female
friend. Many youngsters returning from the
city to their village acquaint themselves with
such “prospective victims” and lure them to the
cities, in return for monetary rewards.
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vol lIiI no 42 EPW Economic & Political Weekly