Land is not only the most important productive resource for the tribals, but also occupies an important place in their psyche as the mainstay of their social and religious practices. The innocence, illiteracy and helplessness of the tribals are exploited by the zamindars, landlords, moneylenders, forest contractors, through fraudulent transfers, forcible eviction, mortgages, leases and encroachments. Right from the British days, the tribal lands have been acquired for development projects and for public purposes. In this way, land alienation has resulted in landlessness among tribals. Various states enforced tenancy laws to protect landlessness of the tribals. But even these laws have not been able to prohibit the incidence of land alienation in tribal areas of Chotanagpur Jharkhand , Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. As per the information available with the Ministry of Rural Development, as many as 4.65 lakh cases of alienation of tribal land covering an area of 9.17 lakh acres were registered in the various states of India. Against this, only 2 lakh cases were disposed of in favour of 1.56 lakh tribal families covering an area of 5.31 lakh acres.

The problem of land alienation among tribals is perpetuated because of the lack of political and administrative will as reflected in the reluctance to amend legal provisions and plug the existing loopholes and swift administrative action to identify alienated land, and restore it to the tribals with delivery of possession. Indebtedness and Bonded labour: The problem of indebtedness among tribals is not only an indication of their poverty but also reflects the wider economic malaise, lack of education, low purchasing/bargaining power and lack of resources for engaging in gainful activity and meeting emergent expenditure. Therefore, the problem continues to persist with increasing menace as the indebtedness pushes the tribals further into extreme conditions of poverty and forces them to dispense with their meagre resources, including the small bits and pieces of land to pay off the loans at exorbitant rates of interest. The initiation of commercial vending of liquor in tribal areas has started impoverishing the tribal population, making them victims of indebtedness and exploitation. As labourers, they do not get work around the year and the payment is neither regular not proper. As a result most of the tribals are in trouble and they have to take loan from money-lenders at a high rate of interest. When they are unable to pay back they are made to repay it by working as bonded labour at nominal wage. Lack of a sound policy to support consumption credit to tribals has tended to make them dependent on usurious money-lenders, resulting in debt-bondage. The problem of tribal indebtedness often gets aggravated and compounded with the government subsidy-cum loan schemes which further lead the tribals into deep indebtedness.