Situation of the CHENCHUS people in India


Meeting with Mr John Jayakar Nagella,
Chief Administrative Officer of the Centre for Adivasee Studies & Peace

The Centre for Adivasee Studies & Peace is a non-governmental organization (NGO) located in India and working for the advancement of Adivasees (means "indigenous people" in Hindu) and the Chenchus, living in the Riverbelt of Krishna, in South-East India.

Very few people pay attention to the fact that this group exists and that indigenous living conditions are far below basic human right standards.

The Chenchus are a moving people, living in the teck forests of the Krishna area and survive on the resources of the forest. They hunt and collect wood for their own consumption as well as to sell (often however at below-average prices). As they are not recognized by the government, the Chenchus do not benefit from any aid for their development. Furthermore, they do not have schools to provide for basic education, doctors to insure minimum health standards and they do not benefit from the basic governmental help for food or drinking water.

The Centre for Adivasee Studies & Peace is taking up their cause on several fronts. Its major concern is to provide basic education. The Centre views education as the key for the development of not only the Cheenchus, but any indigenous population. To promote education, the NGO collected funds for the construction of a school. It also puts pressure on the major governmental agency, the Integrated Tribal Development Agency, to be more attentive to the cause of the Chenchus and more effective in contributing to their development.

The aim of tho NGO's participation in the Working Group on Indigenous Populations is to attract the attention of the international community to the situation of these unknown people and to alert different UN agencies about the status of this indigenous community. By doing so, the Centre will put the Indian government indirectly under pressure and encourage it to promote the development of the Chenchus community and to guarantee safe living conditions.

In short, the demands of Mr Nagella are the following:
1) Recognition of the Chenchus as an indigenous people by India and by the international community
2) National and international help to provide the Chenchus with basic education
3) More efficient work of the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (e.g. the creation of local agencies in the districts where the Chenchus are living and a better supervision of their work).

By: Isabel Deconinck

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