This article is an attempt to document the perturbing socioeconomic and developmental issues of the Korku tribe, one of the most deprived tribal populations found in the state of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, India. The article is a product of extensive ethnographic fieldwork conducted in 10 villages of Melghat region of Maharashtra for a period of 1 year. A close examination was done on the life, lifestyles, and the socioeconomic and developmental indices of the community. The reflections from the fieldwork underline discouraging trends and show the ubiquitous social and development issues of the community. The major shifts in the socioeconomic and cultural life of the Korkus are detailed along with the state of basic amenities, livelihood, health, education, and political affairs. Further, child- and women-related issues are emphasized. The evidence from the study urges the need for focused attention on the developmental strategies for the community.
AzeezA. E. P.SebastianA. (2016). Development and cultural distortion: Assessing the impacts of development programmes and policies on medicinal practice of Baiga community of Chhattisgarh. Contemporary Voice of Dalit, 8(1), 82–89.
2.
BallabhV.BatraP. (2015). Socio-economic transformations of the tribals in central India: Lessons and experiences. Indian Journal of Agricultural Economics, 70(902-2016-68397), 272.
3.
BandiM. (2017, May 14). Forest conservation, tribals and a decade of the forest rights act in India. Mainstream. http://www.mainstreamweekly.net/article7162.html
4.
BaviskarA. (1994). Fate of the forest: Conservation and tribal rights. Economic & Political Weekly, 38, 2493–2501.
5.
BirdiT. J.JoshiS.KotianS.ShahS. (2014). Possible causes of malnutrition in Melghat: A tribal region of Maharashtra, India. Global Journal of Health Science, 6(5), 164.
DaniV.SatavA.PendharkarJ.UghadeS.JainD.AdhavA.SadanshivA. (2015). Prevalence of under nutrition in under-five tribal children of Melghat: A community based cross sectional study in Central India. Clinical Epidemiology and Global Health, 3(2), 77–84.
8.
DasM.MehtaS. (2010). Poverty and social exclusion in India: Adivasis. World Bank.
9.
DattaS. S.MailI. D. (2013). A study to explore the determinants of child health in Melghat, Maharashtra. Health, 1(2), 36–41.
10.
DebnathA.BhattacharjeeN. (2014). Factors associated with malnutrition among tribal children in India: A non-parametric approach. Journal of Tropical Pediatrics, 60(3), 211–215.
11.
DeogaonkarS. G.DeogaonkarS. S. (1990). The Korku tribals. New Delhi, India: Concept Publications.
12.
DevarkarV.BhogaonkarP. (2018). Review of antimicrobial studies of ethnomedicinal plants used in skin treatment by Korkus of Melghat Dist. Amravati (MS), India. Plantae Scientia, 1(3), 61–72. https://doi.org/10.32439/ps.v1i03.61-72.
13.
DubeyA. (2009). Poverty and under-nutrition among Scheduled Tribes in India: A disaggregated analysis. http://www.igidr.ac.in/pdf/publication/PP-062-13.pdf
14.
FernandesW. (2006). Liberalisation and development-induced displacement. Social Change, 36(1), 109–123. https://doi.org/10.1177/004908570603600105.
15.
GangI. N.SenK.YunM. S. (2008). Poverty in rural India: Caste and tribe. Review of Income and Wealth, 54(1), 50–70.
16.
GawadeS. (2017, January 17). The persistence of death: Malnutrition kills thousands in Maharashtra’s Melghat. The News Minute. https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/persistence-death-malnutrition-kills-thousands-maharashtra-s-melghat-55839
17.
JagtapS. D.DeokuleS. S.BhosleS. V. (2006). Some unique ethnomedicinal uses of plants used by the Korku tribe of Amravati district of Maharashtra, India. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 107(3), 463–469.
18.
Ministry of Tribal Affairs. (2013). Statistical profile of Scheduled Tribes in India 2013. https://tribal.nic.in/ST/StatisticalProfileofSTs2013.pdf
19.
MoseleyC. (2010). Atlas of the world’s languages in danger. Paris, France: UNESCO Pub.
20.
PadhyeM. D.DeshmukhV. K.TiwariV. J. (1992). Ethnobotanical study of the Korku tribe of Amravati district, Maharashtra state, India. International Journal of Pharmacognosy, 30(1), 17–20.
21.
PalG. C. (2015). Poverty among tribals in India: Variations and vulnerabilities. Journal of Social Inclusion Studies, 1(2), 91–107.
22.
PatilA. (1992). Status of Korku tribal women. In MisraL. (Ed.), Women’s issues: An Indian perspective. South Asia Books.
23.
PatnaikS. (2007). PESA, the forest rights act, and tribal rights in India. Proceedings: International conference on poverty reduction and forests, Bangkok. http://lib.icimod.org/record/13139/files/4946.pdf
24.
PatnaikS. (n.d.). Rights against all odds: How sacrosanct is tribal forest rights?http://dlc.dlib.indiana.edu/dlc/bitstream/handle/10535/2135/Patnaik_130901.pdf?sequence=1
25.
ShirsatR. P. (2008). Ethnomedicinal uses of some common bryophytes and pteridophytes used by tribals of Melghat region (Ms), India. Ethnobotanical Leaflets, 2008(1), 92.
26.
SinghR.SinghP. (2008). A study on high mortality of children in Melghat region of Amravati (Maharashtra). Studies of Tribes and Tribals, 6(1), 35–43.
27.
TambekarD. H.KhanteB. S. (2010). Antibacterial properties of traditionally used medicinal plants for enteric infections by adivasi’s (Bhumka) in Melghat forest (Amravati district). International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research, 1, 120–128.
