Land Alienation in Scheduled Area: A Case Study of Koya Tribal Villages in Andhra Pradesh

Land is most significant asset for generation to generations. Land gives not only economic security also gives social status in the society. For tribal people, land is the primary source of their livelihoods and they keep aboriginal relations with land and forest. Land is an only source of livelihood for more than 90% of tribal population even today in India. In tribal areas, land still is the single most emotive issue and also it continues to be of enormous economic, social, and symbolic relevance. The current paper is a part of PhD research work discusses the dispossession of tribal lands by the non-tribes and also the local government for the purpose of development projects. Land alienation in its broad sense is among the major causes of impoverishment of tribals that are occupation by non-tribals; reduced access to forest-based livelihoods; reservation of forests and restrictions on shifting cultivation; land administration policies; and displacement by development projects (Laxman Rao. S, et. al, 2006). The paper reveals the causes of land alienation and it impact on tribal and their livelihoods.