IJFANS International Journal of Food and Nutritional Sciences

ISSN PRINT 2319 1775 Online 2320-7876

THE IMPACT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON THE TRIBAL COMMUNITIES IN THE STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

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Mr. Ashok K. Kokate, Dr. Vishwas I. Swami
» doi: 10.48047/IJFANS/S3/140

Abstract

India is the second-largest country of the Tribal Community population in the world comprising a total population of 104 million out of these in the Maharashtra state 10.5 million which constitutes 9.35 per cent of the tribal population as per census 2011. Since the independence of the country the tribal community facing problems with socio-economic development, food, shelter, education, healthcare and sanitation etc. In that, on the 24th March 2020, the government of India announced the first nationwide lockdown for 21 days and thereafter various unlocking phases till today to stop the spreading of the covid-19 pandemic. But during this pandemic and lockdown period, the tribal community of the country was adversely affected severally. In the Maharashtra state, most of the tribal communities depend on Agriculture, Daily Wages, and Minor Forest Products etc. but due to lockdown, the tribal people lost their daily wages income as well as they are not able to sell their collected Minor Forest Products. Even last two years TRIFED (Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Limited) has not purchased Minor Forest Products such as Myrobalan (Hirda) and Honey etc. During this period the central government and state government introduced various schemes and programmes for the tribal people but such schemes were not implemented effectively and efficiently. This study focused on the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on the Tribal Community of the state of Maharashtra considering the various aspects such as Healthcare facilities, Education, Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), Unemployment, Purchase of Grocery, Lack of Public/Private Transportation, Selling the Minor Forest Products, efforts made by Grampanchayat (Local Governance) and Tribal Development Department during covid-19 pandemic etc. To understand the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the Tribal Community 126 responses were collected from the tribal people through the questionnaire.

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