NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR SCHEDULED TRIBES : MEETINGS ON MEDARAS

NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR SCHEDULED TRIBES (F.No. 1/3/08-Coord)

Subject: Summary record of the meeting of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes held at 12:00 hours on 12.05.2008.

1. A meeting of the Commission was held at 12:00 hours on 12.05.2008 in the Conference room of the Commission in Lok Nayak Bhawan New Delhi. The meeting was presided by Smt. Urmila Singh, Chairperson, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes. List of participants is enclosed.

2. There were initially four items on the Agenda for the meeting. A fifth item was added later on for discussion in the meeting. All items on the Agenda were discussed in detail. The decisions taken in the meeting are summarized as under: (Agenda 2nd Item is regarding MEDARA community).

Agenda Item I: Kerala (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) Regulation of issue of Community Certificates (Amendment Ordinance), 2006.

Agenda Item II: Proposal for inclusion of MEDARA Community as a synonym of MEDA Community in the list of STs for Karnataka. Certain details relating to the proposal were called by the Commission from the Govt. of Karnataka in November, 2007. Since there is no elected Govt. in the State for the past few months, it was desired that some more time should be given to the State Government for furnishing the material; for which purpose, a reminder at an appropriate level may be sent. Information may also be sought from MTA/ MoSJ as to why the MEDARA community was not accepted for inclusion as a synonym of MEDA community at the earlier stage of comprehensive revision of lists of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in 1976.

Agenda Item III: Schedule of Review Meetings of Commission with States and UTs and Central Ministries.

Agenda Item IV: Guidelines for dealing with cases relating to Service Safeguards received in the Commission.

Agenda Item V (additional agenda): Report on Study of performance of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes conducted by Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi entrusted by Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances, Government of India.

3. The meeting ended with vote of thanks to the Chairperson.

Annexure: National Commission for Scheduled Tribes: Meeting of the Commission on 12.05.2008 at 12:00 noon in the Conference Room of the Commission-List of participants. (S.No./ Name and Designation/ Signature)

1. Smt. Urmila Singh, Chairperson (In Chair)
2. Shri Maurice Kujur, Vice-Chairperson
3. Shri Tsering Samphel, Member
4. Shri Oris Syiem Myriaw, Member
5. Shri R.S. Sirohi, Secretary
6. Shri Aditya Mishra, Joint Secretary
7. Shri R.C. Durga, Director
8. Shri Vinod Aggarwal, Director
9. Shri R.P. Vashistha, Deputy Secretary
10. Shri K.N. Singh, PS to Chairperson

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NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR SCHEDULED TRIBES (F.No. 1/7/09-Coord.)

Sub: Summary record of the 14th meeting of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes held at 1200 hrs. on 02.09.2009.

1. The 14th meeting of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes was held at 1200 Hrs. on 02/09/2009 as scheduled. The meeting was held in the Conference room of the Commission in Lok Nayak Bhawan New Delhi and was presided over by Smt. Urmila Singh, Chairperson, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes. List of participants is enclosed at ANNEX.

2. There were 2 Agenda Items for discussion. Discussion was held on both the Items. Summary record of the discussions held in the meeting, item-wise, is given below:
(Agenda 1st item was regarding MEDARA community, 2nd item was regarding Vulnerable Tribal Groups/ Primitive Tribal Groups of Andaman and Nicobar Islands).


Agenda Item I

2.1 Proposal for inclusion of 'MEDARA' community as a synonym of MEDA' community in the ST list of Karnataka

2.1.1 The Commission discussed the proposal of the State Government of Karnataka for inclusion of ‘MEDARA’ community as synonym of ‘MEDA’ community in the ST list of Karnataka at length.

2.1.2 Secretary, NCST referred to the observations made in the judgment of the Madras High Court and pointed out that unlike the ‘MEDA’ who were hills men, the ‘MEDARA’ community are bamboo workers living in the urban areas and speak a variety of languages including Marathi and Telugu. The Commission noted that the State Government of Karnataka first recommended inclusion of four communities namely MEDARA, MEDARI, GAURIGA, and BURUD as synonyms of MEDA community in the list of Scheduled Tribes of the State vide their letter dated 19-10-1995. The proposal of the State Government was considered by the Government of India. It was, however, found that the while the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Orders (Amendment) Act, 2002, notified on 07-01-2003, included MEDARI, GAURIGA and BURUD as synonyms of MEDA in the ST list of Karnataka, it did not include MEDARA community as synonym of MEDA community. This omission was pointed out by the State Government vide their letter dated 19-03-2003. The State Government stated that in case the omission was due to oversight, action might be taken by the Government of India to include MEDARA also as synonym of MEDA. Apart from the State Government’s above mentioned letter, the Commission took into consideration the following documents/inputs in support of its decision to agree to the proposal of the State Government :

(i) Letter dated 27-12-2006 from the office of Registrar General of India, New Delhi specifically recommending inclusion of MEDARA as synonym of MEDA in the ST list of Karnataka.
(ii) Additional inputs provided by the State Government vide their letter dated 05-06-2008 in reply to the Commission’s letter dated 21-09-2007 regarding social customs, dialects, way of living, occupation, religious practices and practice of inter-marriage among the people belonging to MEDA and MEDARA communities.
(iii) Additional inputs provided by the report of the Hon’ble Member of the Commission (Shri Tsering Samphel) dated 05-03-2008 after his visit to the districts of Dharwar, Belgaum, Haveri and Uttara Kannada regarding the social customs, dialects and educational & economic status of the people belonging to MEDA, MEDARA and MEDARI communities.

2.1.3 The Commission noted that in his report dated 05-03-2008 (referred to above), the Hon’ble Member, inter-alia, stated that some of the members of 'MEDARA' community, as in the case of any other Scheduled Tribe community, had shifted to urban areas due to educational needs and in search of source of livelihood, but their original family members continued to live in the original tribal habitats, mostly in hills and therefore, the fact that some of the MEDARA community members were inhabiting in urban areas and to that extent were not geographically isolated, could not be a valid reason to deny them their due rights admissible as Scheduled Tribes. The Commission, therefore, expressed its agreement to the proposal for inclusion of 'MEDARA' community as a synonym of 'MEDA' community in the ST list of Karnataka.

3. The meeting ended with vote of thanks to the Chairperson.

ANNEX (w.r.t. Para 1 of the Summary Record)

National Commission for Scheduled Tribes: Meeting of the Commission held on 02.09.2009 at 1200 hrs. in the Conference Room of the Commission.
List of participants. (S.No. Name and Designation)

1. Smt. Urmila Singh, Chairperson (In chair)
2. Shri Maurice Kujur, Vice-Chairperson
3. Shri Tsering Samphel, Member
4. Shri Oris Syiem Myriaw, Member
5. Shri R.S. Sirohi, Secretary
6. Shri Aditya Mishra, Joint Secretary
7. Shri R.C. Durga, Director
8. Shri Vinod Aggarwal, Director
9. Shri R.P.Vasishth, Deputy Secretary
10. Shri K.D. Bhansor, Deputy Director
11. Shri K.N. Singh, PS to Chairperson

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Basors of India

Basor: Bamboo Basket Workers

Basors of India: Who are they?
The Basor are a community of bamboo workers who have been marginalized by society. They are from the low Sudra caste (lowest class of servants and peasants), in the lowest tier of the four classes. They live mainly in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. They are also known as Bansor, Basar, Dumar, Bansphor, Bansodi, Baskar and Burud. The name of the Basor people is thought to be derived from the Hindi word bans, meaning bamboo.

Origin
Ethnologist William Crooke (1896) mentions that the Basor are “a tribe found only in the Bundelkhand Division, and usually regarded as a sub-caste of the Dom (low caste of scavengers, sweepers and cremators). Some of their men are occasional visitors to Mirzapur and other towns, where the men work as musicians and basket-makers, and the women as midwives. The name of the tribe seems to mean `worker in the bamboo’, and to be the same as ‘Bansphor’.” Russel and Hiralal support Crooke’s findings in their Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India (1916) and say that “the word Basor is a corruption of bansphor, meaning ‘a breaker of bamboos’.”
The Basor trace their legendary origin from Raja Benu of Damoh, Madhya Pradesh. He was believed to be so devoutly religious that he did not take any taxes from his subjects, but worked to earn a living by making and selling bamboo fans. Though he did not have an army to protect him, he had magical powers to defeat his enemies. He could destroy his enemies just by breaking a bamboo fan.
The Basor are listed as a Scheduled Caste (SC) under the provisions of the Indian Constitution. These castes have been considered low or ‘untouchable’ and been oppressed by the upper castes. The SC status grants them many benefits such as specified quotas in government jobs, reserved seats in college-level courses like engineering and medicine and reserved seats in Parliament.

Language
The Basor of Madhya Pradesh speaks the Indo-Aryan languages, Bundelkhandi or Jabalpuri, with its Devanagari script. Those living in Uttar Pradesh speak Bundelkhandi at home and local dialects of Hindi with others in the community. Marathi and Hindi is spoken in Maharashtra.

What Are Their Lives Like?
The Basor continue in the traditional occupation of weaving baskets and other bamboo products like winnowing fans, mats, sieves, flutes and rattles which they sell at local markets and fairs. Some keep cattle and pigs, and are drum-beaters for the village. Some work as daily-wage casual laborers and one subgroup, the Dumar work as scavengers (somebody who looks through discarded rubbish in the hope of finding something usable that can be sold). They will not work with horses as horse-dung is considered as a pollutant, and if touched, requires them to be temporarily excommunicated from the caste. A majority of the Basor are landless, while some have small plots of land which they farm.
In Madhya Pradesh they play musical instruments and have formed bands that play at social celebrations. The women work as midwives. The younger generation prefers the security of permanent salaried jobs in the government or private sectors.
The Basor will eat all meat except beef and carrion (meat of a dead animal). They eat rice, wheat, lentils, seasonal fruit and vegetables as well as dairy products. Alcohol consumption is high and many are addicted to it. They accept cooked and uncooked food from castes higher than them in the Hindu caste hierarchy but avoid accepting the same from those considered inferior like the Chamar (tanner), Bhangi (sweeper) and the Dhobi (washer man).
Literacy levels are much lower than the national average, especially for girls. They are entitled to basic utilities such as electricity and drinking water and the government also provides fair-price shops. These shops sell grocery essentials at subsidized prices for poorer families. Ration cards are issued which specify the number of family members and how much each family can purchase every month. As they are illiterate, they are ignorant of saving schemes or bank loans and other facilities available to them.
They use both traditional cures and modern medicine. Those who live in rural areas, however, report that they are often neglected at the government health centres and dispensaries. They do not practice family planning.
The Basor are divided into various subgroups such as Purania (old), Deshwasi (countrymen) and the Gohar or Gudha (derived from pigsty). These divisions are based on territorial or occupational affiliations. These subdivisions are further divided into exogamous clans whose main function is to indicate descent and regulate marital alliances. Clan names relate chiefly to the territory from which their ancestors originated or gods worshipped by their ancestors.

Customs
Adult marriages are the norm except in Uttar Pradesh where child marriage still occurs. This is followed by gaona (departure of the bride to her husband’s house after attaining puberty). Marriages are arranged through negotiations between the parents of both families, and monogamy is the usual practice, though polygamy is allowed in certain cases. Bilateral cross-cousin marriages (first cousins) as well as junior levirate and junior sororate are practiced. Bride-price is gradually being replaced by the custom of dowry.
Divorce is permitted for maladjustment, violence, impotence, barrenness and adultery. It is made legal simply by the wife smashing her glass bangles in public. Under Basor law and custom, widows and deserted women may remarry. Among some Basor, when a widow does marry again, the narasingha, a peculiar kind of crooked trumpet, is the only instrument which may be played at the marriage ceremony. A man who elopes with another man’s wife is first made to pay a specified amount as fine and then accept her as his wife. The Basor prefer to live in extended families. The parental property is inherited by all the sons, with the eldest receiving a slightly larger share. He also succeeds as the head of the family. A widow may inherit her husband’s property and it is retained by her until her remarriage or death.
Although the status of the Basor women is secondary to that of men, their opinions are taken into consideration. In addition to housework, the women contribute to the family income by working but are forbidden from doing certain types of work like making roofs, ploughing, sowing, breaking coconuts and participating in worship in the village or at panchayat (council) meetings. They are not permitted to wear nose-rings and can be excluded from the caste.
The Basor have community councils that administer law and order. The council consists of a mukhia (chief), a secretary and a five-member assembly. This council also enforces traditional caste rules and settles problems related to marriages.

What Are Their Beliefs?
The Basor are Hindu by faith and worship most Hindu deities and female deities at the clan level. The villages have shrines dedicated to Kali, Durga, Khermata, Mediamai, Shiva, Bhairababa (Shiva in his most terrible form), Hanuman (the celibate monkey god), Chandi (another form of Durga), Bajarimai (gravel goddess) and Natbaba (Shiva as lord of dance).
The primary festivals are Dussehra, which celebrates the killing of the demon king Ravana by Rama with Durga’s help, and Diwali (festival of lights, commemorating Rama’s return to Ayodhya after a 14 year exile). The goddess of wealth, Lakshmi, is also worshipped at this time. They celebrate Holi, the festival of colours – ceremonies include the lighting of huge bonfires during which all evils are symbolically burnt.
The celebration of Sankranti is another highlight in the Basor calendar. The monthly entry of the sun into a zodiacal sign is called sankranti. Four sankranti, in particular, are considered auspicious and are observed as festivals. The most important is the winter solstice, the Makara Sankranti (from Makara, Capricorn).
The Basor worship the Bankar (heavy curved knife used in making bamboo products) at Diwali. Each clan worships the object, animal, plant, or other natural phenomenon revered as a symbol by their clan. For example the Bandrelo clan, (the name is derived from monkey), worship a painted monkey; the Katarya (dagger) clan worship a real or painted dagger, while the Kulhantia (somersault) clan members do a somersault at the start of their worship.
A Brahmin priest is paid to perform all religious services. The Basor believe in ghosts, spirits and the evil eye, and exorcisms and healings are necessary to cast these out. Hey worship their ancestors with food and water offerings. The dead are cremated; some in Madhya Pradesh also bury the dead and observe death pollution for a specific period.
With great courtesy to “People Group s India” Team: http://peoplegroupsindia.is2c.com/profiles/basor

Medara Bill in Lok Sabha

Bill introduced in Lok Sabha
to include Medara community in ST list
New Delhi: 27 December 2011

A Constitution Order Amendment Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha to include Medara community in the list of Scheduled Tribes in Karnataka. The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Second Amendment) Bill, 2011 was introduced by Tribal Affairs Minister V Kishore Chandra Deo on 27th Dec 2011, to fulfill the long standing demand for considering the grant of Scheduled Tribes Status to the 'Medara' community in Karnataka.

At present there are 50 communities appearing in the list of Scheduled Tribes in Karnataka. The Tribal Ministry proposal, made on the recommendation of the Karnataka government, seeks to amend the entry at serial no. 37 occurring under Part VI, relating to Karnataka of the Schedule to the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950 and insert the 'Medara' community after the community 'Meda' Scheduled Tribes of Karnataka.

The amendments will entail additional recurring and non- recurring expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of India on account of benefits likely to be provided to the persons belonging to the Medara community out of the continuing schemes meant for the welfare of the scheduled tribes.

Detailed copy of the bill can be had from Deekonda NarsingaRao (09849552877), AP-Hyderabad on email: medaramail@gmail.com

Karnataka Medars requested for Bill in Parliament

Medars in ST list: Central Bill soon

Deccan Herald, Dec 13, 2011 Tuesday

New Delhi, Dec 13, DHNS: Union Tribal Affairs Minister V.Kishore Chandra Deo on Monday promised a delegation from Karnataka that the Centre will introduce a bill incorporating the insertion of Medar community in the ST list in the current session of Parliament. 

Speaking to reporters after receiving a delegation comprising Medar community members led by former Virajpet MLA Basavaraju, the minister said he would ensure that the amendment was approved in the current session of Parliament.

Over 200 people of the Medar Community from Karnataka met the minister and thanked him for taking steps to grant the ST status to the community.

The Union Cabinet recently approved the long-standing demand of granting ST status to Medara community, who will be eligible for all the social benefits accorded to the STs after the appropriate constitutional amendment.

Cabinet approves Inclusion of Medara in ST list

New Delhi, 25 Oct 2011 (UNI): The Union Cabinet today approved the revision in the list of Scheduled Tribes in Karnataka and introduction of a Bill in Parliament incorporating the insertion of Medara community in the list, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said.

Union Cabinet approves inclusion of Medara community in Scheduled Tribes list

Medari (Burud) at Palasa, Srikakulam Dist in AP.



Briefing newspersons after the Cabinet meeting, she said the decision will fulfill the long-term demand of Medara community for getting ST status in Karnataka.

The people belonging to this section in Karnataka will also be eligible for all benefits meant in the Constitution for the ST in the state after the requisite amendment as per the Constitution.

She said verification of social status and issuance of ST certificates rested with the State Government or Union Territory and Karnataka Government will be accountable for implementation.

Medarlu are Bamboo basket makers

Medarlu are Bamboo basket makers.