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Dear Dr. Dhuni Soren, thanks for your response and observations. When we say that land & agriculture alone can sustain the Adivasi, it is not to infer that they be left in the present state of minimal agricultural production and poverty. Rather, the govt can and should develop the irrigation (at present a bare 8% of cultivated area) in the way a state like Punjab has been able to do. If the Jharkhandi farmers can have a second and a third crop, migration will stop. Again, it is not to say that no industrialisation should take place; it should take place keeping the Adivasi land-owner in the centre of the process where he will not only be a stake -holder but owner of the mineral wealth. Regards Stan Swamy |