The Chota Nagpuri Ranchi community has its origins in the plateau of Chota Nagpur region. which includes parts of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Bengal and Madhya Pradesh. If we look into the golden history of India, we find that the tribal society of India has always been conscious of its forests and land and has always struggled for its ‘self’. In the ancient culture and history of India, we remember those great tribal heroes, who have created a new story in history.
The ancient history of India is incomplete without Eklavya, Shabari, Nishadraj Guh, Barbarik, Ghatotkach. Even during the Mughals and foreign invasions, there were many great warriors who fought and sacrificed their lives for this motherland and self-rule. In which Poonja Bhil, Begada Bhil, Gond Rani Durgavati, Sinagi Dai (Uraon Veeragana), Jhalkari Bai etc. have raised the pride of the tribal society in history. Even when the colonial powers arrived in India, our forest-dwelling tribal society continued to struggle with these external forces. Tribal warriors from all over India continuously fought against these forces along with their people in their respective areas for hundreds of years. It was because of the bravery of these heroes that the foreign rule could never rule over the entire of India.
We are remembering all those great tribal heroes in this Amrit Kal of Independence. Whose names are worth to mention here; Jatra Tana Bhagat, Sidhu Murmu, Kanhu Murmu, Veer Buddhu Bhagat, Telanga Khadiya, Alluri Sitaram Raju, Talkal Chandu, Raghoji Bhangre, Tirot Singh, Hapau Jadonang, Rani Gaidinliu, Mizo Rani Ropuiliani are prominent. In which the name of Bhagwan Birsa Munda is taken with great reverence.
Out of the total population of India, 12 crore tribal communities live in remote forests, mountains and rural areas. There are about 750 tribal communities living in India and some people of the same tribal community have come to Andaman and Nicobar Islands at different ages. It is very important to throw light on their background of their migration from Chota Nagpur region to Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
⇒ Role and migration of Chota Nagpuri community in Andaman & Nicobar Islands
The people of Chota Nagpuri Ranchi community, who made the Andaman & Nicobar Islands habitable, are still playing a leading role in the development of these Islands. People of this community called “Ranchi”, come from various states of the mainland like Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Bengal. They were brought here from Ranchi through various means. According to some records, at the end of 1918, the first batch of about 400 Oraon and Munda community people were sent to Andaman. They were kept in Curlew Island of Mayabunder.
Even after this, migration of the forest dwelling community of Chota Nagpur area to Andaman and Nicobar islands continued. The point to be noted here is that these forest dwellers called Ranchi have come from various places like Jashpur, Sambalpur, Barve Beeru, Mandar, Ranchi, Simdega, Gumla, Khunti etc. After all, what is the reason why it is called Ranchi? The main reason for this is that Ranchi city was the recruitment center for sending Chota Nagpuri tribal laborers to Andaman and North East India.
These labourers continued to be sent to Andaman & Nicobar Islands through various challan mediums, in which (1) Catholic Mission Labor Bureau, Ranchi, (2) Sen-Usman Challan, Ranchi and (3) Depot Challan, Ranchi were prominent. Catholic Missionaries were working in different tribal areas of Chota Nagpur region and they were sending these Chota Nagpuri tribal laborers to Ranchi. This was started after the arrival of Christian Missionaries in Chota Nagpur in 1859.
Due to the recruitment center was being Ranchi city, the local people of Andaman and Nicobar call them ‘Ranchi’ or ‘Ranchi wala’. Their children are now living in large numbers in places like Baratang, Ramnagar, Hanspuri, Campbell Bay, Bakultala, Karmatang etc. After Japanese occupation, thousands of Ranchi laborers reached Andaman in 1946. Thus thousands of Chota Nagpuri tribals from Calcutta started reaching Port Blair and on Sundays they used to reach the markets for shopping. The people who sold goods in the open markets of Port Blair and others started calling them ‘Sathi’. But the educated class preferred to call themselves as “Ranchi”.
The information is available in the documents of some revised Panel Settlement Policy of 1923, that the Andaman & Nicobar Administration had written a letter to the Christian Missionaries of Burma and Chota Nagpur to send the tribals of their region for developmental works and settlement in Andamans. On the request of the Administration, the Karen tribes were sent from Burma and settled in Webi village of Mayabunder of North Andaman. A copy of the request letter is available in the Andaman Archives. This letter was written by the then Commissioner.
Arrival of Chota Nagpuri Adivasi Community in Andaman
Earlier the perception persisted for a long time that Ranchi people came to Andaman under the Panel Settlement Policy. When a tour was conducted from one end of Andaman to the other i.e. from Campbell Bay to Diglipur between 1985 and 1986, some elderly people told that they came to Andaman between 1932-1941. But they could not give correct information about their arrival through documents. An elderly resident of Gumla district had also told that he came by Andaman by Maharaja Ship through Father Challan in 1928.
Census 1962 states that the Missionaries had requested to send the tribals of Chota Nagpur to Andaman & Nicobar Islands. This led to the conclusion that Chota Nagpuri tribals came to Andamans during 1924–1925. But social organizations and intellectuals expressed their disagreement on this matter and had heard from Mr. Bonik, Divisional Forest Officer of North Andaman that Chota Nagpuri tribals are master over the forest work. Then he came to Ranchi in 1918 and during the First World War, they were sent to Andaman through the Catholic Labor Bureau for army recruitment and manpower supply, in which there was no Catholic Priest.
K.S. Singh’s book “Peoples of India Andaman & Nicobar Islands” published by the Anthropological Survey of India in 1994. In which it was told that the arrival of Chota Nagpuri Ranchi people in Andaman happened before 1952 and before independence. In which people were sent to engage them in developmental works in Andaman & Nicobar. These people were recruited mainly in MES, General Reserve Engineer Force (GREF), Forest Department, APWD, other government organizations and other private institutions till the end of 1960. In this way we can say that Ranchi community has arrived in Andaman in different stages. Despite playing an important role in the development of Andaman, Ranchi community is still away from the mainstream of development and is struggling for its cultural and social identity.
Challenges before the development of Chota Nagpuri Community
Chota Nagpuri Ranchi community in Andaman & Nicobar Islands have a population of approximately 1 lakh, which are still in a very backward condition. Ranchi Association is working as a representative organization of this community. Who had demanded to accord ST status to the people of their community. When the OBC Commission visited Andaman in 2003, they recommended that the Ranchi community living in Andaman to be included in the OBC Category. But the leaders leading at that time rejected this proposal and on this issue they demanded to give themselves ST status, however Justice S.S. Ganguly, the chairman of the committee has incorporated in the report that whenever the people of Ranchi community will approach to include themselves in the OBC category, it will be considered by the OBC Commission.
Development of Ranchi community cannot happen only through reservation. For their overall development we should look at their problems as well.
1. Lack of proper leadership ability.
2. Not competing with the general category due to its special qualities.
3. Encroachment problem.
4. Non-availability of government schemes in Ranchi Basties.
5. Lack of basic facilities to Ranchi Basties.
6. Problems of contract labourers.
7. No house site allotment.
8. Not being able to take loan due to lack of security guarantee for taking loan from the bank.
9. Social security schemes not reaching to Ranchi settlements.
10. Bringing Ranchi settlements under the purview of Panchayat.
11. Lack of legal information to the Chota Nagpuri Community.
12. Supreme Court’s decision for eviction from forest land in 2002 and its adverse consequences.
13. Non-implementation of Forest Rights Act, 2006 for Chota Nagpuri community.
14. Indifference on the topic of discussion on OBC matter in 2017.
15. There is no information and action on the demand made in 2007 for getting ST status.
6. Absence of proper data and survey reports on socio-economic issues of Chota Nagpuri community.
17. No discussion on the recommendations of the Vivek Ray Committee.
18. No decision between the Forest Department and the Revenue Departments in the matter of de-reserve land.
If Chota Nagpuri Ranchi community is to have all-round development in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, then a comprehensive action plan will have to be prepared for them and policy decisions will also be taken by the administration and participation of stakeholders, social workers, organizations, public representatives etc. will also have to be ensured in this matter.
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