SAORAS TRIBE (Syllabus: GS Paper 1 – Indian Society)

Context: The Saoras have become the fifth particularly vulnerable tribal group in Odisha to be granted habitat rights.

Saoras Tribe

• About: It is one of the ancient tribes of Odisha, which is also mentioned in the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata.
• Also known as: Savaras, Sabaras, Saura, Sora, etc.
• Geographic Distribution: Though Odisha is the main land for the tribe, a small number of people are also found in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Assam.
• Language and Script: They have their own native language called Sora, which is a Munda language, and they are one of the very few tribes of India that have a script for the language, Sorang Sompeng.
• Physical Characteristics: The Saoras show their racial affinity to the Proto Australoid physical characters, which are dominant among the aborigines of Central and Southern India.
• Religious Beliefs: Saoras follow an ingrained and intricate religion, having faith in and worshipping a number of gods and spirits, who they believe are the supreme controllers of their regular lives.
• Art and Customs: They have unique art practices, religious customs, as well as a dying tattooing tradition called ‘Tantangbo’.
• Economic Divisions:

o The Saoras of the plains (Sudha Saora): Depending on their wet cultivation or wage earning and selling firewood.

o The Hill Saoras (Lanjia Saora): Practice shifting and terraced cultivation on the hill slopes.

Habitat Rights under FRA

• Definition: Section 2(h) of the FRA defines habitat as the customary habitat plus additional habitats in reserved and protected forests for primitive tribal groups, pre-agricultural communities, and other forest-dwelling scheduled tribes.
• Facilitation in Odisha: The ST and SC Development department facilitated habitat rights for Paudi Bhuyans in Deogarh, Juangs in Keonjhar and Jajpur, and Chuktia Bhunjia in Nuapada, according to Section 3(1)(e) of The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006.
• Rights for PVTGs: Habitat rights are specifically granted to Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) under Section 3(1)(e) of the FRA, which aims to protect their traditional forest dwellings.
• Implementation in Other States: Beyond Odisha, Madhya Pradesh has granted habitat rights to the Bharia PVTG, while Chhattisgarh has extended these rights to the Kamar and Baiga PVTGs.