by DEBARSHI DASGUPTA
It may seem like an innocuous error but it has nonetheless sent the alarm bells ringing in Chhattisgarh. The administration of Jashpur district, an overwhelmingly tribal area, has been found to have reduced the local tribal population to a minority. It seems to have interchanged the census figures of the local scheduled tribe population with those of the scheduled castes. The 2001 census puts the figure for STs at 63.24 per cent of the total while the SC population is just 4.9 per cent.
The switch, which was made online, meant that the tribals were officially reduced to a minority. In fact, close to 300 villages in the district were shown to have zero ST population. The district administration said it was a mistake and corrected the data recently after a public furore. But few locals are convinced. Most feel it was intended to facilitate land acquisition for private firms by declaring tribal land non-tribal. The acquisition of tribal land is governed by several checks and balances to protect indigenous people. Jashpur collector S.K. Jaiswal denies any hidden motive and says the census book with the original data is referred to whenever needed.
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