Members of the National Coordination Committee for the Protection of Tribal Constitutional Rights met the honourable Governor of Andhra Pradesh Sri Syed Abdul Nazeer at Raj Bhavan in Vijayawada on Thursday and urged intervention to safeguard the rights of Adivasi communities and ensure the effective implementation of constitutional protections under the Fifth Schedule.
Following the meeting, Dr. J. Purnachandra Rao, IPS (Retd.), Former Director General of Police and National Coordinator of AIBSP, addressed the media at the Raj Bhavan Media Point and emphasized that development initiatives must not result in Adivasi communities losing their homes and livelihoods and becoming refugees in their own land.
100% reservation of Public employment in local cadres like teachers , health workers , constables etc for Adivasis in Agency areas should be restored by invoking the powers of Governor under 5th Schedule Paragraph 2 without further delay. He further stated that Tribal cel in the office of Governor may be formed to check injustices done to tribals which also include grabbing of tribal lands by non tribals.
Dr. P. V. Ramesh, IAS (Retd.), Former Special Chief Secretary to the Government of Andhra Pradesh; Sri Lake Raja Rao, Former MLA; Sri Chanda Lingaiah Dora, Former MLA; Sri Lakshmana Murthy; and other tribal leaders from the Visakha Agency area were also present on the occasion.
Dr. Purnachandra Rao noted that large infrastructure projects such as the Polavaram irrigation project are often presented as symbols of national progress and agricultural prosperity. While such projects promise irrigation benefits to vast command areas and long-term agricultural growth, they also lead to the displacement of thousands of tribal families who have lived for generations in the forests and river valleys of the Godavari basin.
He pointed out that while farmers in the command areas of the project will receive assured irrigation for decades and benefit from increased agricultural productivity, the tribal communities whose lands are submerged face the loss of their homes, lands, and cultural environment. Without proper rehabilitation, many of these families risk becoming landless migrants.
Highlighting the constitutional safeguards available to tribal communities, Dr. Rao said that Article 244(1) of the Constitution, read with the Fifth Schedule, establishes a special governance framework for Scheduled Areas to protect Adivasi communities from economic marginalisation and exploitation. He also referred to the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA), which recognizes the authority of Gram Sabhas in tribal areas over land, natural resources, and local governance.
According to him, displacement without sustainable livelihood restoration undermines the spirit of these constitutional protections.
Dr. Rao stressed that cash compensation alone cannot adequately rehabilitate tribal families whose livelihoods depend on agriculture and forests. Instead, he advocated a “land-for-land” rehabilitation policy, under which displaced families should be provided agricultural land within the irrigation command area of the project. Such an approach would ensure that affected communities become participants in the benefits of development rather than victims of it as in case of Amaravati farmers who are given plots within Amaravati Capital Region.
He noted that internationally, development projects increasingly recognise the importance of land-based rehabilitation for displaced rural populations. Large projects such as the Three Gorges Dam in China and the Itaipu Hydroelectric Project between Brazil and Paraguay have incorporated programmes to resettle displaced families with access to land and livelihood support. Global institutions such as the World Bank also emphasise land-based rehabilitation wherever feasible when agricultural communities are displaced.
Dr. Rao further observed that the prosperity generated by projects like Polavaram will significantly benefit farmers in the command areas through improved irrigation and increased agricultural productivity. In such circumstances, he suggested that mechanisms such as land acquisition or land pooling could be explored to allocate a small portion of land within the command area for rehabilitating displaced tribal families.
“Development must move forward, but it must do so with justice and respect for constitutional values,” Dr. Rao said. “A society that prides itself on progress cannot allow communities that have lived for centuries in a region to become refugees in their own country.”
He concluded by stating that ensuring land-based rehabilitation and sustainable livelihoods for displaced tribal communities is not merely a policy matter but a test of the nation’s commitment to justice, constitutional principles, and social responsibility.