I want Mr. Dhulekar to behave just as he used to when he was a student in St. Columba’s College, Hazaribagh, when he mixed freely with the Adivasis and spoke of them as being the finest citizens in India. But at the present moment, the Adivasis have been put into a watertight compartment. I know there are people who will say that the British put them into zoos. We have now an Indian National Government. Is the zoo not still there? Popular ministries have been heard of in this country for the last twelve years; what have they done in any way to remove this stigma? Have they done anything? During the Sub-Committee’s tour – wherever we went – Provincial Governments came out with elaborate reports of the heavenly things they were doing for the Adivasis to fight their poverty and the evil disease in their midst, and how all that was going to be removed. One Provincial Prime Minister told me that he had set aside Rs. 20 lakhs for ameliorative measures for the Adivasis in a particular district. I asked him how much he had spent in the last eight months. He said: “We still have our plans but we hope it will be ready on paper!” What happens is just paper and paper: all window-dressing. We want concrete work among these people. Some people think that by opening a few schools and giving some scholarships they will be making a tremendous change among the Adivasis. It is economic betterment that the backward people need. Once they are economically better, they will be able to educate themselves.
