Issues and Challenges with Empowerment of Tribal Women in India: A Forest-Based Study

Abstract

The forest-based resources play significant importance in the lives of tribal women and their households in India. The livelihood of the tribal families is mainly dependent on Non-wood Forest Products (NWFP). These include the collection of kendu leaves for making tobacco, mahua flowers, mahua seeds, mushrooms, tamarind, and wild brooms. The tribal women contribute to a great extent in the collection and processing of NWFP along with the sale of the final products. Due to the existence of the forest, the food and financial security of the tribal households has been secured to a great extent. Sadly, these tribal women receive less compensation through dishonest middlemen due to illiteracy. Therefore, these indigenous women must enhance their skills to increase their income. The current article intends to investigate the amount of women's employment concerning forest products and the many fields in which these women might develop their skills to increase their income and empower their family.

Keywords

• Forest-based study
• Kendu leaves
• Medicinal herbs
• NWFP
• Tribal families
• Tribal women
• Women empowerment

Hindistan'daki Kabile Kadınlarının Güçlendirilmesi ile İlgili Sorunlar ve Zorluklar: Orman Temelli Bir Çalışma

Öz

Orman temelli kaynaklar, Hindistan'daki kabile kadınlarının ve onların hanelerinin yaşamlarında önemli bir rol oynamaktadır. Kabile ailelerinin geçim kaynağı büyük ölçüde Orman Dışı Ürünler'e (NWFP) dayanmaktadır. Bu ürünler arasında tütün yapımında kullanılan kendu yapraklarının, mahua çiçeklerinin, mahua tohumlarının, mantarların, tamarindin ve yabani süpürgelerin toplanması yer almaktadır. Kabile kadınları, NWFP'lerin toplanması ve işlenmesi ile nihai ürünlerin satışında büyük ölçüde katkıda bulunmaktadır. Ormanın varlığı sayesinde, kabile hanelerinin gıda ve finansal güvenliği büyük ölçüde sağlanmıştır. Ne yazık ki, bu kabile kadınları okuma yazma bilmedikleri için dürüst olmayan aracılar tarafından düşük ücret almaktadırlar. Bu nedenle, bu yerli kadınların gelirlerini artırmak için becerilerini geliştirmeleri gerekmektedir. Mevcut makale, kadınların orman ürünleri ile ilgili istihdam miktarını ve bu kadınların gelirlerini artırmak ve ailelerini güçlendirmek için becerilerini geliştirebilecekleri çeşitli alanları araştırmayı amaçlamaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Orman temelli çalışma
• Kendu yaprakları
• Şifalı otlar
• Orman Dışı Ürünler (NWFP)
• Kabile aileleri
• Kabile kadınları
• Kadınların güçlendirilmesi.

Kaynakça

1. Besra, S. (2022). Political empowerment of tribal women in India: A review. Department of Public Administration Utkal University, Vani Vihar, Bhubaneswar, 55.
2. Bhasin, V. (2007). Status of tribal women in India. Studies on Home and Community Science, 1(1), 1-16.
3. Bhukya, R. (2015). Empowerment of tribal women in India. Indian Journal of Research, 4(4), 4-5.
4. Binjha, P. (2020). Challenges and prospects of empowerment of tribal women with reference to Jharkhand. International Journal for Research in Engineering Applications and Management, 6(7), 231-236.
5. Bose, P. (2011). Forest tenure reform: exclusion of tribal women's rights in semi-arid Rajasthan, India. International Forestry Review, 13(2), 220-232.
6. Bose, P. (2011). Identity-based exclusion: tribal women’s forest tenure rights in semi-arid Rajasthan. In 13th International Association for the Study of Commons Conference, Hyderabad (10-14 January).
7. Chakraborty, S. (2013). Empowering the Tribal Women through Education: Issue of Social Justice with Reference of West Bengal. Afro Asian Journal of Anthropology and Social Policy, 4(1), 24-28.
8. Chakravarty, S., Kumar, A., & Jha, A. N. (2013). Women’s empowerment in India: Issues, challenges and future directions. International Review of Social Sciences and Humanities, 5(1), 154-163.

9. Chowdhury, A., Roul, S. K., & Mete, J. K. (2021). Empowerment of Tribal Women with Respect to Their Socio- Economic Status in India. Pt. 2 J. Legal Ethical & Regul. Isses, 24, 1.
10. Das, R., & Rekha & Mahapatra, P. (2017). Empowerment of Tribal Women in Odisha: An Analytical Perspective. International Journal of Development Research, 07 (09), 14981, 14986.
11. Das, S. K. (2012). An analysis of constraints in women empowerment in Tribal area: Evidences from Assam. Asian Journal of Research in Social Sciences and Humanities, 2(4), 61-74.
12. Dewangan, S. K., Sahu, K. R., Achari, K. V., & Soni, S. (2011). Socio-Economic empowerment of tribal women through sericulture a study of lailunga block of Raigarh District, Chhattisgarh, India. International Journal of Business and Management, 6(12), 297-302.
13. Fernandes, W., & Menon, G. S. (1987). Tribal women and forest economy. Deforestation, exploitation and status change. Tribal women and forest economy. Deforestation, exploitation and status change.
14. Gupta, P. (2016). Status of tribal women in India: some observations. Anudhyan: an international journal of social science, 1(1), 181-188.
15. Hazra, S. (2021). Impact of globalization on the empowerment of tribal women at mining sector in india:(special reference to West Bengal). International Education and Research Journal, 7(5), 39-41.
16. Jena, P. K., & Sahoo, S. S. (2016). Forest and livelihood of tribal people: a case study on Kandhamal district in Odisha. Asian Journal of Development Matters, 10(2), 24-38.
17. Khan, S., & Hasan, Z. (2020). Tribal Women in India: The Gender Inequalities and Its Repercussions.
18. Mahmud, S. R., Maowa, J., & Wibowo, F. W. (2017, November). Women empowerment: One stop solution for women. In 2017 2nd International conferences on Information Technology, Information Systems and Electrical Engineering (ICITISEE) (pp. 485-489). IEEE.
19. Mohapatra, B., Sarangi, I., Mahapatra, S. K. (2022). Forests, gender quality, and employment in tribal areas: Issues and concerns for empowering tribal women. Jundishapur Journal of Microbiology, 15(1), 5417-5425.
20. Naresh, G. (2014). Work Participation of Tribal Women in India: A Development Perspective. ISOR J. Human. Soc. Sci, 19(12), 35-38.
21. Padhi, S., Patel, S. (2021). Role of tribal women in sustainable forest management in South Odisha. International Journal of Advanced Multidisciplinary Research, 8(12), 80-94.
22. Panda, P. K. (2021). A Study on Social Change of Tribal Women in Nabarangpur District of Odisha. Indian Journal of Public Administration, 67(2), 201-213.
23. Paray, M. R. (2019). Empowerment of Tribal Women and Gender Development in India. International Journal of Advanced Multidisciplinary Scientific Research, 2(1), 21-27.
24. Raj, A., Jhariya, M. K., Khan, N., & Oraon, P. R. (2021). Women Empowerment and Social Development Through Joint Forest Management: Indian Perspective. In Advances in Sustainable Development and Management of Environmental and Natural Resources, 1, 59.
25. Rani, G. S., Rajani, N., & Neeraja, P. (2011). An analysis of tribal women’s education in India. In International Conference on Social Science and Humanity (Vol. 5, pp. 507-510).
26. Reshi, I. A., & Sudha, T. (2022). Women Empowerment: A Literature Review. International Journal of Economic, Business, Accounting, Agriculture Management and Sharia Administration (IJEBAS), 2(6), 1353-1359.
27. Sarma, G. (2014). An analytical study on entrepreneurial activity as a tool for socio-economic development of tribal women in BTAD area of Assam. IOSR Journal of Economics and Finance, 3(2), 49-52.
28. Sethuraman, K. (2008). The role of women's empowerment and domestic violence in child growth and undernutrition in a tribal and rural community in south India (No. 2008/15).
29. Sharma, R. (2012). Women and Empowerment: Issues and Challenges. LBS Journal of Management & Research, 10(2), 86-88.
30. Sindhi, S. (2012). Prospects and challenges in empowerment of tribal women. IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 6(1), 46-54.