Right to Elementary Education for Indigenous Community of Jashpur District (Chattisgarh) Is It Fully Fledged?

Abstract

Indigenous populations are communities that live within, or are attached to, geographically distinct traditional habitats or ancestral territories, and who identify themselves as being part of a distinct cultural group, descended from groups present in the area before modern states were created and current borders defined. They generally maintain cultural and social identities, and social, economic, cultural and political institutions, separate from the mainstream or dominant society or culture1 . Jashpur District lies in the north-eastern corner of the state of Chhattisgarh in India adjoining the border of Jharkhand and Odisha. The density of the population is 132 persons per sq. km. 91% of the population is rural where as 9% belongs to the urban populace. The district is tribal-populated where 62.28%. The district is famous and rich for its tribal inherent culture where 14608 are Pahadi Korvas, a primitive vulnerable tribal group and 515 are the Birhore tribes.2 It is divided geographically into two parts. The northern hilly belt is called the Upper Ghat. The remaining, southern part, is called Nichghat.The upper ghat runs from Loroghat Kastura, Narayanpur, Bagicha up to the Surguja district. This belt is a forest area and contains a reserve forest. It covers Sanna, Bagicha, and Narayanpur. The upper ghat is an extension plateau covering 1384 km² which is about 1200 meters above sea level and is covered by a dense forest. The elevated plateau is called "Pat". The Upper Ghat is climbed through Loroghat. Loroghat is about 4 km in length and there are three turnings that are very dangerous and one of the reasons for which people does not travel more for schooling. India became one of the 135 countries to make education a fundamental right of every child when the act came into force on 1 April 2010. The unprecedented move of this landmark law being enacted was seen as one that could, if implemented rightly, solve major issues concerning the education of the underprivileged. But it faced some conventional complications of implementation and some fundamental flaws, which restricted the law from yielding maximum advantage. The objective of the study is to overcome and understand the socio-demographic reasons behind the decreased rate of literacy despite the universal law of compulsory education and to find out the gaps in implementation RTE Act 2019