“Dravidians, the original inhabitants of the country, were pushed down south and farther into the forest areas during the Aryan invasion.” towards center-led activities through the Forest Act 2006, while more informal community customs and traditions are dying out, thus diminishing options for enhancing livelihoods in the Northeast in a strategic and sustainable manner.” Continuous Erosion of Tribal Land Rights Dravidians, the original inhabitants of the country, were pushed down south and farther into the forest areas during the Aryan invasion. The process of usurpation of land rights was further exacerbated by the British colonizers, who enacted laws to manage and control the forests and natural resources. Later, through various legal enactments such as the Forest Act and Land Acquisition Act, the Adivasis were made encroachers on their land during pre-independence, and this continued to the post-independence period. The root of the problem is that the right to property is not a fundamental right under the current Indian Constitution. It is now a legal right under Article 300A of the Constitution that no person shall be deprived of property save by authority of law. Under Section 4(i) of the Panchayat Extension to the Schedule Areas (PESA), the authority of law for acquisition of tribal land was provided. The government, having the eminent domain over resources, made acquisition of lands of tribals easy and convenient, which slowly and gradually led to massive land grabs for various purposes such as consolidation of national parks, construction of dams, and mining. Table 3 compares landholdings of tribals with all India figures for different categories of landholdings. As far as STs are concerned, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Rajasthan account for 70 % of the tribal population in rural India. Landlessness among ST households is observed mainly in Arunachal Pradesh (11.2%), Kerala (14.3%) and Mizoram (19.5%). While among Scheduled Castes (SCs), it is high in Arunachal Pradesh (73.1%) and Lakshadweep (100%). Table 3. Number and Area of Operation Holdings in India in 2005-06 (Number in thousands) (Area in thousand hectares) Category of Holding ST Number and % All Area and % Number and % Area and % Marginal 4,586.16 (49.08) 2,221.51 (14.35) 83,694.37 (64.77) 32,025.97 (20.23) Small 2,400.31 (25.69) 3,345.80 (21.61) 23,929.63 (18.52) 33,100.79 (20.91) Semi-medium 1,550.05 (16.59) 4,145.78 (26.77) 14,127.12 (10.93) 37,897.69 (23.94) Medium 704.03 (7.53) 4,059.72 (26.22) 6,375.34 (4.93) 36,583.40 (23.11) Large 104.50 (1.12) 1,713.12 (11.06) 1,095.78 (0.85) 18,715.13 (11.82) All size classes 9,345.05 (100.0) 15,485.93 (100.0) 129,222.24 (100.0) 158,322.98 (100.0) 50 Asian NGO Coalition for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ANGOC)