9% of India’s population is tribal. Despite constitutional promise of social justice and protection through affirmative action, the tribal population in India live in deplorable conditions in the dense forests and remote hinterlands. These original inhabitants (hence the name Adivasi) worked in proximity with nature and were the custodians of Mother Earth. Adivasis live a simple life, eat forest sustainable produce, use indigenous medicine and have their own form of learning through tales from the proceeding generations. The rich heritage of their culture makes each tribal group unique from the other but they are united by the vicious cycle of poverty and lack of formal learning. With the planned development and advent of globalisation era, their habitat was ruthlessly destroyed by the mining firms and industries. This led in the displacement of the tribal people from their area of origin. The compensation given to them in form of a work offer or petty cash was never enough, pushing them further to the margins.
In Odisha, over 22.8 percent of the population is tribal. They live in utmost poverty with low literacy rates, rampant child marriage and superstition. The tribal people had no access to healthcare facilities. The schools and colleges in the villages and hinterlands were too few. Poor infrastructure, teacher absenteeism, lack of toilets, pressure to handle siblings and go for work bedevil the education system in tribal areas.