INFORMATION NEEDS AND TRADITIONAL INFORMATION SEEKING PATTERNS OF THE BORDER COMMUNITIES IN TAWANG DISTRICT OF ARUNACHAL PRADESH

Bordering with China, Tibet, Bhutan and Myanmar, the state of Arunachal Pradesh in northeastern India is home to various border communities. Like other areas in the state, Tawang district is also a vast mountainous terrain, which is thinly populated by the Monpas and Tibetians. It remains a strategic frontier along the disputed Indo-China border as China asserts it to be a part of the so-called South Tibet. Being in difficult mountainous terrain coupled with adverse geographical and climatic conditions, these border communities have their own specific information needs for living safe and healthy lives. With time their information needs have been changing over the course of history. So are their information seeking patterns. A series of historical turning points leading to the creation of borders have affected the communication and information flow in the border areas. The abrupt curtailment of traditional inter-community socio-cultural and trade linkages owing to the sealing off of the border after the Indo-China war of 1962 hampered information flow and exchange of traditional knowledge on both sides of the border. Reeling under pervasive underdevelopment, the frontier communities heavily depend on the few available channels for information- both formal and informal. Besides, information about border conflict, emergencies and risks, these border communities have their basic and critical information needs about politics, public policy initiatives, health, education, economic opportunities etc. for enabling them to thrive on the frontiers. This paper explores the traditional information seeking patterns of the border communities in Tawang and thereby examining the role of informal information channels in meeting their needs in the strategic border environment