Revision summary
The 1894 Act made state taking of tribal land routine. Customary title rarely matched the deed the collector recognised. PESA inserted gram sabha consultation in Scheduled Areas. LARR 2013 added consent, social impact, and rehabilitation duties. Organisation still breaks when territory goes, whatever the statute name.
Model answer
Introduction
Land acquisition law is the state’s power to take land for a public purpose. For tribal social organisation, each successive Act has been a shock to territory, clan, and council, because land is kinship, not only a plot.
Body
Colonial and early republican law
- The Land Acquisition Act, 1894 made a collector’s award the normal path. Forest and village commons were easy to name as waste.
- Mines, dams, and towns after independence used the same 1894 spine. S. C. Roy’s Munda-Oraon land custom had no standing equal to a deed.
Reform attempts
- Fifth Schedule transfer bans tried to stop private alienation. Acquisition by the state still punched through.
- PESA required gram sabha consultation in Scheduled Areas, a direct attempt to put the council back in the path of the file.
LARR 2013
- The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 added consent thresholds, social impact, and R&R.
- On paper this recognises that acquisition breaks habitation, shrine, and livelihood together.
- Amendments and state rules have often weakened consent. Mining corridors still treat tribal organisation as a resettlement camp problem.
Effect on organisation
- When fields and groves go, lineage authority tied to land thins. Youth become labour. The parha cannot fine a company.
- Resettlement mixes clans and religions, which is why church or party may replace the old council.
- N. K. Bose’s absorption then happens as proletarian caste-in-the-slum, not as a ranked village occupation.
Continuity
- Successive Acts changed procedure more than they restored a territorial tribe. Social organisation follows the remaining land.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD A1894[LAA 1894] --> T[Take land as waste] P[PESA] --> G[Gram sabha] L[LARR 2013] --> C[Consent SIA R and R] T --> B[Clan council thin]
Conclusion
From 1894 to LARR 2013 the state learned to pay and sometimes to consult. Tribal organisation still unravels when territory is taken, because clan and council were land-based.
Quick related
Students also ask
-
Discuss the problems involved in rehabilitation and resettlement of tribals displaced due to development projects in India
Next question in the 2021 paper (Q7). View answer →
-
Did LARR 2013 stop tribal displacement?
It raised the legal bar. Projects still proceed where consent and SIA are weak or waived.
-
Why does acquisition hit social organisation?
Because lineage, grove, and council are territorial. Compensation cash is not a village.
PYQ trend
When UPSC asked this
Related PYQs from other years, newest first. Open a question to read it.
-
2025 · Q6(b) · Anthropology GS 2 · 15 marks
Discuss the role of NGOs in the socioeconomic and political development of weaker sections and the manner in which they facilitate other stakeholders -
2025 · Q7(a) · Anthropology GS 2 · 20 marks
Identify the contemporary limitations in the process of tribal development. How can anthropological knowledge contribute in this process? -
2025 · Q7(c) · Anthropology GS 2 · 15 marks
Critically evaluate the concept of Nation-State and describe its impact on indigenous societies -
2024 · Q6(a) · Anthropology GS 2 · 20 marks
Custodians of natural resources are the tribals, but they are the most deprived. Critically examine how climate change will impact their survival in future. -
2024 · Q8(b) · Anthropology GS 2 · 15 marks
Distinguish a 'Theocratic State' from a secular, liberal, democratic state. Illustrate your answer with examples from tribal and contemporary societies. -
2023 · Q3(c) · Anthropology GS 2 · 15 marks
Critically examine the impact of modern democratic institutions on contemporary tribal societies. Illustrate with suitable ethnographic examples. -
2021 · Q5(a) · Anthropology GS 2 · 10 marks
Urbanization and tribal institutions -
2016 · Q7(c) · Anthropology GS 2 · 15 marks
Describe how various tribal development programmes and plans have impacted the process of social transformation among tribes
More from this paper
Q1(a) · UPSC Mains 2021 · Anthropology GS 2 · 10 marks
Purushartha and righteous living today
Evolution of the Indian Culture and Civilization
Purushartha names dharma, artha, kama, and moksha as life aims. Dharma is meant to frame wealth and desire. Today righteous living is constitutional equality plus personal duty. Market artha without ethics shows as corruption and resource grab. Moksha is no longer the only public test of a good life.
Q1(b) · UPSC Mains 2021 · Anthropology GS 2 · 10 marks
Relevance of tribe-caste continuum
Caste system in India
Tribe-caste continuum places tribe and caste on one gradient. Bailey and Sinha described highland groups moving toward caste society. Bose’s absorption thesis is the civilisational version of that slope. The idea explains ritual and economic change. It must not erase ST law, PESA, or forest rights.
Q1(c) · UPSC Mains 2021 · Anthropology GS 2 · 10 marks
Harappan seals
Evolution of the Indian Culture and Civilization
Harappan seals are mostly square steatite with script and an animal. Harappa, Mohenjo-daro, and Dholavira are key findspots. They likely marked goods and office in a trade system. The Indus script on them is still unread. Seals are not a full social census of the civilisation.
Toppers' copies
Toppers' copies for this question will be uploaded soon.