Sandip Mallick
Assistant Professor, Department of Commerce, Kanchrapara College, Email: [email protected]
Mrinal Kanti Das
Assistant Professor, Department of Commerce, Kanchrapara College, Email: [email protected]
DOI:
Abstract
The article discusses the link between literacy rates and crime against Scheduled Tribes in India, which is complex and defies the simplistic assumption that education reduces victimization. The attempt here will be to understand how literacy impinges on the actual empowerment and safety of these historically oppressed communities. The study uses a mixed-methods approach. It combines a quantitative correlation of state-wise ST literacy data (Census) and crime statistics (NCRB) with a qualitative interpretation of the socio-political contexts to explain the statistical findings. The correlation is not a simple inverse one. The results support an “empowerment-reporting effect,” in which higher literacy may lead to higher reported crime because aware individuals would be more likely to access the justice system. In other contexts, the protective effects of literacy are negated by deep-rooted structural violence and land conflicts. Effective policy needs to go further than basic literacy and ensure functional, legal, and political literacy. This educational empowerment needs to be linked with strong implementation of protective legislation and socio-economic support in order for ST communities to actually be safe and experience justice that bridges the gap between constitutional promise and lived reality.
Keywords: Scheduled Tribes, Literacy, Atrocities, Empowerment, Social Justice
KISS International Journal of Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Sustainability (KIJEIS) 2025 Jul, Vol.1 (2): 117 – 133