When an Indian Administrative Service officer pens down his multitude of experiences gathered while working in tribal areas of the country, it promises to be an interesting read, highlighting the nuances and uniqueness of different tribes of India. An officer of 1987-batch of Madhya Pradesh cadre, Mr. Pravir Krishna has gathered all his experiences, gained during the years spent working in tribal areas, into a book and has aptly named it: Tryst With The Tribes -Tales From Tribal Heartlands.
In conversation with Indian Masterminds, Mr. Krishna gave some glimpses of his book which provide some rare insights into the unique mechanisms of tribal societies and the way forward.
TRYST WITH THE TRIBES
“Tryst With The Tribes is an effort to put down my thoughts on how tribal development should be fast tracked in our country through enterprises,” says the author himself, whose first interaction with the tribal community happened during his posting in the tribal-dominated district of Surguja in Madhya Pradesh.
He continues on the topic that is very close to his heart: “Tribals are very qualified, and they have their own eco system according to which their living pattern is concerned. What upliftment schemes I worked on and what further measures should be taken care of, this book provides the glimpses of it all. It’s a story of tribal development that, I thought, needed to be shared with the future generations.”
THE IMLI KRISHNA
Sharing an interesting incident that gave him the name, ‘Imli Krishna’, he says, “It’s the love of my tribal people who gave me the title of ‘Imli Krishna’. It’s during my service in Bastar district, where I observed the absence of a proper procurement method for forest produce like Imli, Mahua, Chirongi, etc. The middleman used to get all the benefits, while the tribals were generally exploited.”
Explaining further, he narrates the specific incident that brought about a new name for him: “One day, in a weekly haat, I observed something that planted the seed for the Imli Andolan. Practicing barter system, the tribal people were exchanging chirongi (dry fruit) with salt. The cost of this dry fruit was around Rs 200 per kg while salt was just Rs 20-25 a kg. They were not aware of the actual significance of their produce.”
This observation paved the way for an awareness campaign known as Saksharta Abiyaan, in which his volunteers used to go from village to village and make them aware of the importance and value of their forest produce, to visualize the concept of linking them with market structure.
Mr. Krishna says, “Our aim was to connect them with proper procurement process. People connected with us and, today, after years of hard work, things are getting on track.”
Needless to say, it was due to this ‘andolan’ that the grateful people of Bastar started calling him ‘Imli Krishna’. A fond epithet for their favourite officer!
THE CONCEPT OF VAN DHAN
Mr. Krishna now says of the period that saw him work tirelessly to bring benefits for the simple tribal people: “Our aim was not only to identify the problem but also to find the solutions to resolve them.”
During his tenure as MD, TRIFED, he has adopted various developmental concepts and ‘Van Dhan’ is one of them.
Van Dhan was focused on the complete branding, marketing and proper selling of forest produce in urban markets. The tribal people got its benefit as they started to receive 5 to 6 times more money for their forest produce than before.
Mr. Krishna gives an example: “The procurement of 2-3 of forest produce went up to 20-22 after the Van Dhan mechanism was implemented.”
BRINGING REFORMS IN TRIBAL MARKETS
What spurred him on to help the tribal people was the exploitation of their simplicity. “Their exploitation deeply affected me and set me on my journey towards working for the betterment of these people.”
In his book, he discusses the pros and cons of providing a fair deal to tribes for their forest produce, and what needs to be done further to quadruple the incomes of the tribes using this as the engine.
Today, due to his efforts, tribal people are aware of the value of their unique produce and earn more in national and international markets. And as for the officer behind it all – Mr. Krishna’s market reforms have been listed by the UNO-FAO among the 32 best global practices.
REVIEWS OF THE BOOK
Tryst With The Tribes -Tales From Tribal Heartlands has received some good reviews from eminent personalities.
“It is important that the tribal communities maintain their traditional skill sets and at the same time we ought to open up new creative livelihood and income enhancing opportunities for them. This is what Shri Pravir Krishna has been consistently striving through his stint in the tribal areas and now with great success as MD, TRIFED. I’m sure that this book will be very well received as a window to the creative blend of tradition and modernity, as the author has brought to the field of tribal development.” – M. Venkaiah Naidu, Vice President of India
“This story is of an amazing turnaround brought about by a committed team led by one of the most outstanding officers in the IAS. Pravir Krishna transformed TRIFED through his imaginative planning and immaculate execution to benefit tribals of the country. He made it happen in the different and ignored section. It is an example worthy of emulation.” – Anil Swaroop, Former Secretary, Govt of India
The book is now available on Amazon: Tryst With the Tribes: Tales from Tribal Heartland
