By Santosh Digal
New Delhi: Ranchi in eastern India will host the first national consultation of tribal Catholic bishops on Feb 23 and 24.
“The purpose of the meet is to discuss various issues and concerns that affect tribals in India, particularly tribal Christians,” Jesuit Father Stanislaus Tirkey, secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) office for tribal (indigenous people) affairs, told Matters India on Feb 22.
The meet will take place at Social Development Centre Society, Ranchi, capital of Jharkhand state, the nerve center of Adivasi Christians in India.
As many as 16 of the total 26 Tribal Catholic bishops have already confirmed participation, said Father Tirkey. The bishops represent dioceses spread over nine states in central and eastern India and eight in the northeast.
The nine states are Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Rajashthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh and West Bengal.
Benjamin Lakra, former principal accountant general, is scheduled to address the bishops, followed by sharing and deliberations among bishops. They will then chalk of future course of action to help the development and welfare of tribals of the country safeguarding their land, livelihood, education, culture, human rights, and migration.
According to federal government’ census department, the number of tribal Christians grew by 63 percent from 6.39 million in 2001 to 10.3 million in 2011. In contrast tribal Hindus have increased by 39 percent from 60 million to 84.1 million. In 2011, India has some 104 million tribal people.