Caritas workshop on tribal land issues

A workshop on tribal land issues was organised by Caritas India from January 12-13, 2012 in Raipur, Chhattisgarh.

Titled "Tribal land issues in India: Rights and Displacement- Our lands, our livelihood, our voices", the workshop laid emphasis on building up a platform for mass discussion and action at the national and regional levels to address tribal issues.

The need for capacity building and strengthening of the Gram Sabhas emerged out as the exigency of the time.

The participants further also acknowledged the significant role played by media "to take the small and local collective actions to the public".

The two-day workshop was the third in the series of thematic national workshops organised by Caritas as part of its golden Jubilee Celebrations.

The event aimed at generating a tangible understanding on tribal land issues in India that can lead to corporal actions by formulating strategies and plans to address the issue.

About 55 people including tribal community leaders, subject experts, academicians, social activists and NGO representatives from 23 organisations of 12 states in India, mostly from the tribal belt, participated in the workshop.

The inaugural ceremony was chaired by Rev. Joseph Augustine, Archbishop of Raipur.

In his presidential address, he underscored how the tribal development programmes are becoming hollow as it was being mostly designed by non-tribals.

Serjius Minj IAS, Chief Information Commissioner, Chhattisgarh was the Chief Guest for the workshop.

In his address, he highlighted the need for knowing the characteristics of tribes before designing programmes on tribal development.