My Experience at the Rashtriya Ekta Tribal Exhibition

Today was a different kind of day at college, one that made me pause, reflect, and learn.

The Department of Social Work (Aided) at our college , in collaboration with the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) and Ministry of Education, organized the Rashtriya Ekta (National Unity) Seminar and exhibition on tribal products. 

The theme was: 

“Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s Commitment to Social Justice and Tribal Rights – Revisiting His Contributions in Light of Vision Viksit Bharat 2047.”

Sounds heavy? Maybe. But what I saw and learned was real, moving, and honestly, something I feel more people should know.

Irular Tribe 

One of the projects that stayed with me was about the Irular tribe in Tamil Nadu. Did you know that many Irular families still don’t have basic documents like Aadhaar cards, ration cards, or even community certificates?

We all know that the rest of the world is facing different kinds of identity struggles, issues of gender, nationality, and displacement. But even then, people are acknowledged as human beings. So why is it that here, in our own country, entire communities are still denied that basic recognition? Isn’t identity the first step toward dignity and rights? They’re people too... how can anyone be left invisible in 2025?

Because they lack these documents, they miss out on education, jobs, housing, healthcare, and justice. The study, which surveyed 100 Irular families through interviews, revealed a sad truth that many are still stuck in bonded labor and poverty, simply because the system doesn’t recognize them. We also learnt about kartunayakans another group of tribe in the nilgiris.

In my opinion, this isn’t just a documentation issue—it’s about dignity, and about having basic compassion for another human being. How can someone, being a human themselves, have the heart to treat another person with such neglect and indifference? It’s not just a failure of the system; it’s a failure of humanity.

We need legal awareness drives, community-level support, and a simpler process for them to get what most of us take for granted.

I learnt about another interesting takeaway from a U.S. initiative, an online platform that helps tribal justice workers learn from one another. It covers everything from domestic violence and child welfare to tribal courts and cultural practices.

I couldn’t help but wonder that why don’t we have something like this in India?

If tribal practitioners here had access to such a space, imagine how easily they could share problems, solutions, and case studies across regions. 

The posters brought forward some hard-hitting realities that we often ignore:

Land Displacement: Tribals are pushed off their lands for mining or projects without fair compensation.

Forest Rights Act (FRA) of 2006: Still poorly implemented because of bureaucratic delays.

Justice Gaps: Crimes against tribals go unreported or unresolved, and caste-based data isn’t always clear.

Education and Health: In some places like Kaushambi (UP), female tribal literacy is as low as 2.7%. In remote areas, even emergency medical care is unavailable.

Caste Discrimination: Even though tribals are outside the caste system, they are still excluded from markets, governance, and society at large.

It really made me ask myself: Are we truly inclusive as a nation? Or just selectively progressive?

Because in the end, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

One of the posters I saw at the exhibit spoke about a study from Kerala, focused on the Mannan tribe of Idukki, comparing mental health awareness between men and women. It really made me think. In many parts of India, mental health is still misunderstood, often dismissed as something “Western,” and people who seek therapy are mocked or not taken seriously. While in mainstream society the stigma is slowly breaking and people are beginning to encourage therapy, the reality is very different among tribal communities, where mental health is almost never spoken about.

The study used both surveys and interviews, and it made me realise just how much culture shapes the way we understand emotions and mental well-being. For communities like the Mannans, mental health isn’t just a personal matter, it’s deeply connected to traditions, beliefs, and daily survival. And unless we recognise that, we can’t create real awareness.

Women face more stigma and less access to help. Their coping mechanisms are often rooted in traditional beliefs, which may or may not be effective.

I strongly feel that mental health literacy should be a part of tribal health initiatives. Let’s not wait for a crisis to care.

The Exhibition : 

The highlight of the day for me was definitely the tribal product exhibition. From jewellery and herbal teas to crafts, paintings, soaps, clothes, and every single item carried a story of tradition, effort, and pride. Partners like MCC - MRF Innovation Park, TNRise, StartUp TN, and others truly made the event vibrant, inclusive, and meaningful.

I tasted a sample of white tea and green tea, offered by a kind lady, and it was so soothing and it felt like it refreshed my soul from within. We also tried a sample of Kambu laddu (made from pearl millet), and I loved it so much that I ended up buying one. There were sellers offering moringa-infused honey, javadhu-infused honey, and mountain honey (மலைத்தேன்) along with a variety of malts, organic products, accessories, and more.

What made it even more special was that even plants were being sold, and I bought a Vallaarai plant (Centella asiatica) to take home and nurture.

There was a group of 3 to 5 girls sketching portraits live, for free. All you had to do was stand in front of them, and they'd let their pencil do the talking, creating beautiful strokes on paper. There was also a career guidance stall, and everything about the event was so well-planned and lively. It went off perfectly, without a single flaw..

It wasn’t just an exhibition. It was a bridge between their world and ours.

And I felt grateful to be standing on that bridge, even if just for a moment.

Remembering Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel : 

Most of us know Sardar Patel as the man who united India. But he was also a champion of tribal rights. He believed in:

• Land rights for tribals

• Inclusion in the nation-building process

• Constitutional protections to preserve their dignity

Today, we have schemes and policies in place like:

• Eklavya Schools

• Stand Up India & Scholarships

• Forest Rights Act (2006)

• Legal safeguards under Articles 15(4), 46, 244, and Acts like PESA & Atrocities Act

And it really made me think that if someone like me, living in a city and receiving proper education, didn’t know these policies existed, how would tribal communities ever come to know about them? That’s where the real problem lies. The first step must be awareness. People need to know that laws do exist to protect them, and only then can they claim those rights. Without that, even the strongest policies become meaningless.

My thoughts regarding this: 

If we truly want to become a developed India by 2047, we can’t leave our tribal communities behind. 

I’ve heard that tribal communities in India have been facing displacement for decades, and one major example is the Narmada Valley Project, which began around the 1980s. In places like Manibeli, a village near the Narmada River on the Maharashtra-Gujarat border, people were forced to leave their homes due to the construction of the Sardar Sarovar Dam.

The project aimed to provide irrigation, electricity, and water to several states, but in doing so, it submerged villages, farmlands, and forests, affecting thousands of tribal families who depended entirely on their land for survival. They were displaced without proper rehabilitation, and those who protested were met with police violence and arrests.

Activists like Medha Patkar and the Narmada Bachao Andolan tried to stand up for them, but the voices of the oppressed were buried under the noise of "development." I think it’s heartbreaking that they were treated like animals, stripped of dignity and space. Just like humans steal land from animals, now they’re stealing it from their own people. What’s the difference?

All they wanted was peace, a right to live on their own land, and even that was denied. It’s so displeasing to hear that humans themselves have become the greatest threat to humanity...one human causing the fall of another.

This particular incident wasn’t mentioned in the exhibit because it focused on the Irular tribe, but I still felt it was important to include it because of the strong relevance and connection to the larger issue of tribal rights. Even though the Mannan tribe is from Kerala and the Irulars are from Tamil Nadu, both communities are part of the same nation. No matter the region, the challenges faced by tribal groups echo similar struggles, and that makes their stories worth sharing.

Taking away someone’s land and not giving them even a place to resettle is like watching your childhood home being destroyed and being sent to the streets with nothing. That’s not development, it’s cruelty disguised as progress.

Development isn’t just about cities and skyscrapers. It’s also about forests, villages, and the people who have lived with the land... not against it for generations.

Thank you to MCC, ICSSR, and all the partners who made this day happen.

It didn’t just educate me. It moved me. Also motivated me to become a better human being.