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The tribais constituting more that 8% of the total population continue to be the backward segment of Indian society. After independence with the adoption of a new constitution based on socialistic and democratic values, the whole perception with regard to the role of the State vis-a-vis the tribais has changed. Besides the usual rights and privileges of all citizens, the tribais (Scheduled Tribes) have been provided with protective and ameliorative measures under various constitutional provisions including those in the Fifth and Sixth Schedules. The welfare of the tribais is being treated as an integral part of India's developmental plans. So, in the popular notion, the relationship between the State and the tribal is treated as cooperative in which policies of the State are viewed as if it were conducted for the welfare of the tribais. However, after so many decades of planned economic development and policy measures, it is …