Influences of economy and culture in development among mountain tribes of Indian Central Himalaya

Abstract

SUMMARY The Indian republic contains a large number of tribal communities with varied cultures. Efforts to develop these communities by the government of India and the provincial governments continue to be important in the post-independence planning era, and perceptible development has occurred in the socioeconomic and demographic areas. However, expected goals have not been achieved and differing socioeconomic and demographic developments are still found in tribal communities, even within the same ecosystem. In this paper, an effort is made to characterize the differential trends of socio-economic and demographic development among two mountain tribes — the Jaunsaries and the Bhotias — inhabiting the Indian Central Himalayan region. With the exception of altitudinal variation, the Central Himalayan region of India is governed by a set of more or less similar geophysical and environmental conditions. However, discernible differences in socioeconomic and demographic developments are found in these tribal communities, and are affected by the economy and culture of the tribal communities. The findings suggest that economic and cultural advantages and limitations should be appropriately integrated in planning to make development efforts more meaningful and sustainable.