The Sahariya tribe lives in forests in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, depending on forest resources and minor jobs for survival. However, declining forests and exploitation have impoverished the tribe. The Sahariyas face issues like malnutrition, lack of healthcare and education, land disputes, debt bondage, and migration that separates families and subjects women to sexual exploitation. Comprehensive measures are needed to address their issues, ensure security, and support education, livelihoods, and access to services.

1. The Sahariya
Tribe
A saga of struggle for
existence

3. The Sahariya Tribe
 Saharia is a little-known tribe in India. The
Saharias are found mainly in Morena, Bhind,
Gwalior, Datia, Shivpuri and Guna districts of
Madhya Pradesh and parts of Rajasthan. They
live in the Khair, Kardhai and Babool forests of
the valleys of the Kuno, Parbati, Sindh, and Kali
Sindh rivers. Their agricultural income is
marginal but they get substantial additional
income from working in the forests and collecting
minor forest produce such as honey, edible
gums, manufacture of kattha, collection of
chironji, tapping Salai trees etc. They also find
employment in large grass reserves of the Kuno
valley. They are good huntsmen.

6.  Name :Saharia
 People Name General:
Saharia
 Alternate People Names:

Bamrawat

Banrakha

Harauti
 Soprahiya

Suraiya
 Population in
India:623,000
 Population in all
Countries:627,000

7. Population Break Up
 Madhya Pradesh (454,000)
 Rajasthan (82,000)
 Uttar Pradesh (40,000)
 Bihar (20,000)
 West Bengal (16,000)
 Chhattisgarh (1,600)
 Uttaranachal (600)
 Jharkhand (500)
 Andaman and Nicobar Islands (50)
 Assam (Unknown

8. Social Life
 Sahariyas generally reside in separate basti in the village which is
called Saharana.
 The religious practice by these tribals is Hinduism.
 The Sahariyas maintained ecological equilibrium with their
environment for ages, despite low level of technology. Mostly they
were engaged as gatherers of minor forest produce and agriculture
labourers.
 The main business are gathering & selling of forest wood, Gum,
Tendu leaf, Honey, fruits and vegetables.
 Though Sahariyas, in general are primitive, but all of them are not
so. Some of them are settled cultivators. Others are landless
labourers and forest produce gatherers.
 They live in small families. The elder sons live separately after
marriage and younger son bear the responsibilities of the parents
amd unmarried brothers-sisters. Marriages are performed after
attaining the age of 15 years. There are some arranged marriages
and some in the ceremony in the fairs.

9. The Community
 One of the scheduled tribe has been named as
`Sahariyas’ only because it was totally dependent upon
forests for its very existence in terms of its society,
family, livelihood and everything else.
 The people of `Sahariyas’ tribe never bothered of their
future, because they were confident that forests, which
they respect and protect, would never leave them
hungry.
 However, the other groups of Society have exploited the
forests to the tilt, for meeting their own self-interests.
Consequently, the very source providing the food
security to the families of `Sahariyas’ tribe has been
irretrievably damaged.
 Left with no alternative, the people of `Sahariyas’ tribe
had to look out for labour work in the local stone mines
to earn their livelihood.
 Slowly and slowly, they were becoming a tool of
exploitation in the wider perspective of our social system.

10. A bird Eye View
 Their habitations are located outside the main villages. It is generally
a cluster of houses. The housing reminds of prehistoric scenes. It is
made of some stone boulders and roofing is also of stone slabs. In
some villages mud structures are also constructed. Brick and
concrete are very rare. Government has attempted at providing
housing to them. But Sahariya prefers to live these stone huts-
locally called as Patore.
 Most of their livelihood resources are in the control of powerful
people .e.g. land, water and forest produce. In most cases their land
is bad and that too is usurped by others. High indebtedness, land
alienation, abysmal literacy level, preponderance of tuberculosis
and malaria, and lack of social security are some facets of their
vulnerability.
 Severe malnutrition among the children and starvation deaths has
also been reported.
 Shy and submissive by nature, they fall easy prey to the
manipulation of corrupt people.
 The services like health, education, electricity and nutrition care and
social security exist mostly in profound sentiments of the policies;
most Sahariyas have been denied access to them.

11. Bird’s Eye Continues
 As the forest cover is disappearing, Sahariyas are forced to work as casual
labor.
 Formal administrative system has never been understood by them.
 Complex procedures of the Government have further scared them away
from seeking its support.
 Government has been pushing scheme after scheme for their development,
little benefit reaches to them.
 Middlemen and Government Officials have taken benefit of these programs.
 At many places Sahariyas have been tortured to leave their native village by
the mischievous people to take over their land. In such cases they have
migrated to other places in search of security.
 The area is also infamous for dacoits and organized robbers. These groups
move from place to place looking for hideouts from the police.
 Poor Sahariyas are forced to entertain these hooligans with monetary, food,
liquor and women.
 Any attempt to refuse brings heavy penalty on them in the form of physical
beating, gang rape and rampage of their villages.
 Police looks at them as informers and tries to use force and threat for
gathering information about the movement of dacoits.

12. Critical Concerns
 Land tenure and related conflicts have become a part of Sahariyas'
very existence. They were never known to own land but had a major
contribution in converting forestland for agriculture.
 It is this land or the ambiguity of their ownership of it, which has
been a constant source of conflict with their more powerful
neighbors as well as with the Government.
 The conflicts range from oppression by the Gurjars and Sardars,
who are constantly trying to drive the Sahariyas away from the land,
to the local officials who perpetuate amazing forms of mal
-governance and injustice.

For instance: (i) Giving pattas without actual possession of land, or vice versa; (ii)
Year after year realizing a fine from encroached forest lands but not maintaining
records of the same thus, depriving the Sahariyas of proof of duration of occupancy
(iii)
 There is a constant conflict between the Forest Department and the
Revenue Department on the issue of the demarcation of land.
 Often it is found that jurisdiction of both the departments overlap and
the Sahariyas who occupy such areas are caught between the two
government departments, who never seem to be in a mood to
resolve the issue.

13. Critical Concerns
 Exploitation - Khadaans(Stone Quarries), bonded labour, dacoities(robbers)
and liquor have become synonymous with the lot of the Sahariyas.
 The mode of abuse is as varied as they are cruel.
 The Khadaans or the mines are a hotbed of exploitation.
 The Sahariyas are encouraged by the mine or land owners to take petty
loans which, more often then not; they are unable to pay.
 Workers are charged for absenteeism and also at times chained up in the
mine premises so that they are unable to run away and instead forced to
work.
 Dacoities are a common feature in this area and they particularly target the
Sahariyas.
 The dacoities are more often perpetuated by the landed Gurjars or the mine
owners themselves or supported by them with the intention of forcing the
Sahariyas to penury as well as terrorizing them to abandon their land and
run away, thus providing the former a chance to snatch away the land.
 Liquor is another mode of well-planned exploitation. Liquor is often sold by
the mine owners at the site of the mines and the payment deducted from the
wages of the workers

14. Migration
 After the festival of Holi, the people of Sahariya tribe migrate for
about 75 days between March 15 and June 30. During these 75
days neither they get full employment nor they earn sufficient
enough to meet his livelihood requirement during coming monsoon
season.
Statistics of migration period:
 Total period of migration: 75 days
 No.of days preparatory to migration: 5-7 days
 Days spent to secure work: 5-7 days
 Period of unemployment/holidays: 5-7 days
 Sickness or emergent days: 3-4 days
 Preparing to return back: 5-7 days
 Total No. of non-productive days : 23-32 days

15. Income During Migration
 During Chait period, the maximum wages
earned by Sahariyas people are for harvesting
the wheat crop. But instead of cash payment,
they receive a part of total crop.
 As per prevailing practice, they receive about
5% of the total crop as their wages i.e. in return
of harvesting one quintal of wheat, they receive
5 Kgs. of wheat as their wages.
 Here also they face exploitation. In return of
harvesting 21 Pooras (local measurement: 1
Poora = 2.33 Kgs.), he receives 1 Poora as his
wages.

16. Effects of
Migration
 The fact remains that during
migration, the tribal women are
exploited to the extreme.
 Children had to leave their studies
during migration.
 Elders of the family, handicapped
members and pregnant women
had to suffer problems beyond
words without any safety
arrangements for them.
 Migration in itself becomes a web
of indebtedness to moneylenders.
 Many a times they had to sell their
animal husbandry and their
temporary huts are totally
destroyed.
 They are unable to use their
entitlements such as Public
Distribution System, ICDS and Mid
Day Meals.

17. Exploitation
 The migrant Sahariyas are generally exploited and are made to work for long
hours and paid wages less than the local labourers, even below the prescribed
minimum wages.
 Taking advantage of their illiteracy and poverty, middlemen practice exploitative
recruitment practices and retain a major portion of their wages as their own
commission.
 Moreover, wages are adjusted only at the end of the season and workers are
paid some advances, which are not at all sufficient to meet even their basic
requirements.
 The condition of women labourers are far more vulnerable, who are invariably
paid lesser wages as compared to their male counterparts.
 Sexual exploitation of women migrant labourers is a matter of deep concern.
 Most of the migrant workers live in conditions below the minimum accepted
standards without adequate shelter and toilet facilities.
 In most places, migrants stay in make shift shacks or in the open and have no
access to safe drinking water. In the urban areas, shortage of open space and
harassment by local musclemen add to their misery
 The non-inclusion of migrants in the electoral rolls also deprives them of political
patronage and results in their extreme political marginalization.
 The employers and contractors also adopt exploitative practices against the
migrants and employ various methods to circumvent the provisions of Inter-State
Migrant Workmen Act (ISMW) in such a manner to escape from the purview of
such Act.

18. What is needed
 Administration to be accountable for quality education and health services. Any
negligence should be strictly dealt and concerned persons to be penalized.
 Social security and legal aid support for each family should be insured.
 A comprehensive development plan to be developed considering specific needs and
demands of the Sahariyas.
 Declaring Sahariya Zone with special senior level committee to look into their day to
day problems.
 Present Food distribution system is not adequate to meet their needs. It should be
totally overhauled. Mobile shops for grains and cooked food are put in place to ensure
availability of food to every one.
 It is taken for granted that all the Sahariyas can pay for medicine, food, electricity and
education. The truth is that many do not even eat meals two times a day and go
without food on some days.
 Children are highly malnourished and suffer from skin and other infections. The ICDS
program has to be held accountable along with ANM if cases of severe malnutrition
are identified in the village.
 NREG program has gone totally in corrupt hands. Soon the Sahariyas would refuse to
work since the payments are much less than daily wages otherwise available. It is
leading to serious restless among the poor. Immediate district level monitoring
committees should be made with representation of credible NGOs and Media
Personals.
 Land disputes continue to harass the tribal everywhere. Special courts should be
setup to hear these cases. Disputes between Forest and Revenue departments over
land maps and ownership has caused insurmountable suffering to Sahariyas.