Tribes are the poorest section of Indian population. They are socially, educationally and economically most deprived, exploited and suffering injustice since ages. Though in the Indian Constitution, the rights ensuring social justice is elaborated in Articles 12 to 35on the Fundamental Rights of the Indian citizens, social justice has not progressed an inch further in today’s world. The tribals don’t even know what the rule of law is or what social justice means. The tribals form 8.2% of the national population leaving aside the Union Territories where they constitute a substantial share of population, but they are denied political power even in states like Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, and Madhya Pradesh, where they form 20% of the state population. So, for a stronger country we need to develop every part of the state on a equal basis. In this era of modernization, poverty elimination has become one of the most important goals of the government. Two decades of economic reforms and drum beating about inclusive growth seem to have failed to change the face of tribal and rural communities. Hence, The Twelfth Five Year Plan which in effect since 1 April, 2012 announced that special efforts will be made to bring the tribals and other marginalized sections at par with other sections of the society. Even in the 21 century the tribes are far behind in comparison with other segments of the society on all the Human Development indicators.

Mathew Abraham was born in Kerala and he completed his education in Kerala. As a social activist, he was deeply involved in the Dalit movement and did a research study on the movement. He writes regularly both for national journals and magazine publications.