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Chobey, Kamal Nayan

Adivasi or vanvasi : Tribal India and the Politics of Hindutva / By Kamal Nayan Chobey - Haryana Penguin Random House 2025 - xi, 281 pages 23 cm.

Abbreviations;
1. Introduction: The Uniqueness of the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram;
2. Footprints of the RSS in Tribal Areas: Formation and Expansion of the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram;
3. The Core Pillars of the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram: Spread of Hindu Values, Opposition of 'Adivasi' and Proselytization;
4. Politics of Service: Key Aspects of the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram;
5. Forest Resources, Tribal Rights and the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram;
6. The Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram and Hindutva: Ruptures in the Vision of a Hinduized Tribal;
7. Concdusion: Is the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram a Robust Ambassador of Hindutva Politics?;
Aknouwledgements;
Notes;
Bibliography;
Index.

Akhil Bhartiya Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, popularly known as Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram or VKA is the tribal wing of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). As the largest tribal organization in the country, it works in many areas of Kerala, Jharkhand and the North-east of India. Till the late 1970s, VKA's work was limited to a few districts of Chhattisgarh (then Madhya Pradesh), Jharkhand (then Bihar), and Odisha but it has gradually and continuously expanded its footprint in different parts of the country.
It is noteworthy that from its inception VKA focused on spreading Hindu values by organizing religious rituals in tribal areas and working in the area of education and hostels. It has tirelessly worked to provide medical help to the tribals from the mid-1960s. However, after the late 1970s, it started to work in different aspects of tribal communities' lives. By the 1990s, it also formally began to raise questions related to the rights of tribal communities over forest land and its resources.
Exploring its genesis, historical journey, the nature of ideological discourse, and various functions of the VKA, this book opens a window to the contribution of an organization, which largely remained untold and therefore unknown. Deeply researched and evocative, Adivasi or Vanavasi would immensely interest anyone interested to understand modern India's history, politics and changing landscape of Indian society.

ISBN: 9780143470489 (Paperback)

Dewey Class. No.: 305.800954