LIFE OF TRIBAL WOMEN IN SOUTH ODISHA (POST INDEPENDENCE PERIOD)

The book entitled “Life of Tribal Women in South Odisha (Post Independence Period) is an humble attempt to throw light on lifestyle of Tribal women of South Odisha, moreover their social status, cultural behavior, livelihood which carry forward their economic upliftment in this post independence era. Our book mostly focused on downtrodden weaker section of the state and country in general and the hub of tribal people of South Odisha in particular. It is a very interesting thing to state that we are discussing about the people, the society, the community, the gender which is a burning topic in this Modern world. Odisha has one of the largest concentrations of tribal population in the whole country and the second largest leading tribal state in the country. About 68 million people of India are members of Scheduled Tribes and Odisha is one of the most studied tribal regions. Of all the states of India, Odisha has the largest number of tribes, as many as 62 types, 233 minor tribes and Odisha represents an impressive 22.85% of total population (numbering 96357820). Odisha claims a prominent position among the states and union territories of India for having the largest varieties of tribes i.e. 62 in number including 13 particularly vulnerable Tribe Groups (PTGs) as well as the third highest tribal population over 9.3millions, accounting for about 9.72% of the country’s total population and constituting 22.85% of the state’s total population as per 2011 census. As per the 2011 census data 22.3% are male and 23.4% female. Generally in India as per 2011 census, women constitute 48% of the total population. It means among every five persons one belongs to the scheduled tribe community in the state. The notable thing is that in this work we have concentrated on the most populated backward community of the state of Odisha. Our study area covers seven districts of Odisha, situated in southern part of the state. These districts are Gajapati, Ganjam, Kandhamala, Koraput, Nawarangpur, Rayagada and Malkanagiri. The entire area is in between 1705’N and 1909’N latitude and between 8103’E and 8503’E longitude. They are bounded by Vijayanagarm and Srikakulam district of Andrapradesh in the south east and to south especially. The Bastar district of Chhatisgarh state lies to the south west. In the north- west is the Nawarangpur district and in the north the Kalahandi district of Odisha. To the North- East lies Kandhamal and Nayagarh district of Odisha. Incidentally, majority of our tribal population of the state resides in these areas and they fall under the ambit of KBK region which has drawn worldwide attention as the most backward place in Asian continent. Here we have mentioned about the major tribal group like Bonda, Didayi, Gadaba, Gond, Kondha, Koya, Paraja and Saora as they are populous in this state.