The Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli is hardly known to many. It is a small UT with an area of 491 sq. kms, sandwiched between Maharashtra and Gujarat. It’s capital is Silvassa and is about 160 kms from Mumbai. To reach this place, we can go by any train going towards Gujarat and get down at Vapi. From there, you can take a bus or a rickshaw. It is 19 kms. away. If one goes by road on the Ahmedabad highway, one needs to cut in at Bhilad. Silvassa is 12 Kms from Bhilad.

Its population of over 1,74,000 comprises of about 80% adhivasis (1981 census), consisting of Warlis, Koknas, Dhodias, Dublas, Kolis, etc. Here we shall mainly deal with the Koknas, and the Dhodias.

The Koknas derive their name from ‘Konkan’ a region of Western India from the sea-coast to the foothills of the Western Ghats ‘Sahyadri’. They are better cultivators and have lands of their own and produce paddy. They are hard working, thrifty and conservative in nature and habit.

The men and women are well built in stature. The men wear a dhoti up to the knees, a waist coat or shirt, and turban on the head. The women wear colourful sarees reaching below the knees or up to the toes. The Kokna men and women often bear a tattoo on the forehead and on other parts of the body. The winds of progress have changed their life style, and with better schooling, many of them have risen to higher positions in society. They are mostly in the southern part of the territory.

The term ‘Dhodia’ seems to be derived from ‘Dhundi’ meaning a small thatched house, and hence, "Dhodia", a hut dweller. They are well built and generally fairer than other tribes of the Union Territory. The men folk wear a white dhoti up to the knees and a shirt or a waistcoat on the upper part of the body. They also wear white or coloured caps on their heads signifying their socio-cultural advancement. The traditional dress of Dhodia women consists of a dark blue saree worn up to knee and ‘aanchal’ worn from the front of the body and left lose on the back.

The men use few ornaments like earrings and silver chains around the waist. The women adorn themselves with colourful beaded necklaces and other silver ornaments. They wear metal bangles, in bunches, on their hand and thick Kada on their toes. They are better cultivators and mostly own enough farm lands for their livelihood. They also possess better farming equipments and bullock carts, which they use for carting the forest produce. The Dhodias are thrifty, industrious and hard working. They are educationally more advanced than the other tribes of the Territory. They are mostly located in the northern part of the Territory.

Their principal occupation is agriculture. The major crops are paddy, ragi and pulses. While some own small fields, a good many of them live as landless labourers – tenants of big landlords. From the beginning, these landlords would exploit the tenants’ poverty and ignorance for their own gain. Bonded labour, credit of cereals at almost 100% interest rate was not a rare occurrence. In recent times, however, such practices have dwindled due to Government policies and the action of missionaries on behalf of the Adhivasis.

As there are no lakes and irrigation facilities, the farmers depend totally on rains. If the rains come on time it is well and good. If there is no rain, no crop; no crop means no food. At times when there is too much rain, the fields get washed off. And therefore, no food for the whole year. In such situations, the whole family migrates to nearby towns and cities of Gujarat/Maharashtra to work at the construction sites, or to find some jobs. Here again, they are exploited by the contractors and are paid very little.

In the last two decades many factories and industries have come up in Nagar Haveli. Many adhivasis have sold their lands at a very cheap price as they were getting "big money" in their hand for the first time in their life. Some chemical factories have come up right in the villages where people live. The people as well as those in authority have been silenced with the offer of money by the industrialists. Most of the top places in the factories are occupied by outsiders. Our Adhivasi people are used as coolies, watchmen or as labourers. Most of them are employed on temporary or contract basis and are not paid a decent wage /salary. But with the coming of industries, the economic condition of the tribals has improved a bit, as there are at least some jobs to do. But other evils have also entered the UT.

The religion of these people like all folk religion is rather ambiguous, with a good dose of animism. Homage to various deities is rendered predominantly out of fear, and because of the urge to propitiate an angry power. Superstitions abound in all areas of their social life and control their existence. The Adhivasis have no temples, but here and there one finds sacred stones which are worshipped with the belief that they are possessed by the spirits of the village gods. The tribals also have their family deities whose pictures and images are sometimes hung on the walls of their thatched homes. Each village deity has its annual feast, which is celebrated all night long with ritual dancing and chanting of religious folklore. Tribals and rural folk relish a colourful and uninhibited expression of their religious sentiments through music, dance and drama.

Nagarhaveli is advertised as one of the best Tourist Spots of the Western Coast. The Government is spending lot of money also to have "Deer Parks", "Lion Safaris", Gardens, Hotels, etc, to attract tourists. But the interior villages are totally neglected; many villages have no light, no water, no proper roads. People are still living in thatched huts, and in utter poverty.

In 1942, the Pilar Fathers landed in Dadra Nagarhaveli . They took over from the Franciscan brothers, who had begun their missionary work there. It was practically a jungle area with no roads. The Fathers moved either on horseback or on foot. They toured from village to village; spent the night in the village and the next morning moved to another village. Nowadays traveling is a lot easier, and it is possible to carry on the mission apostolate in three main areas: pastoral, educational and social.

Each parish / chaplaincy has 10 to 15 villages to look after. There is a regular programme for the fathers and sisters to visit each village, offer mass, conduct meetings, etc. This programme is intensified especially on four occasions-Advent, Lent, Month of May (devotion to Mother Mary) and before the feast of the Parish / chaplaincy. Many indigenous cultural elements are introduced in the liturgy to make it more attuned to tribal sensibilities. In Lent, the Passion Play with life-size statues is enacted on a grand scale, attracting large crowds.

Jivan Vikas Kendra (JVK), the Pastoral Center of the Mission, conducts various Programmes for the tribals especially on Faith formation, Catechesis, Marriage preparation, Bible seminars, Youth camps, etc. All these programmes are a great help for people to grow in their faith. By and large, people attend the village Masses. On Sundays the people walk quite a few kilometers to come to the center for Mass. Some even come swimming across the river. Such has been their faith. It is heartening to see that every year we have over one hundred people receiving Baptism at Easter or at another appropriate time, after due preparation.

There are 7 hostels housing over 2000 students from KG to Std X from interior villages. Formerly we used to provide everything free. But gradually, in order to make the parents feel that they too should contribute towards the child, we ask them to contribute a small amount. Many find it difficult, and we understand that. Education has really picked up among the tribals. Seeing the need of the hour we have opened an English medium School at Khanvel. It is interesting to note that more and more tribal students are admitted in the school and they perform well. There was a time when our Fathers had to pay a few rupees to the family to send the child to school. It was as if they were doing a big favour to the Fathers. Today, many of the parents are realizing the importance of education.

Many of the tribal students who have passed out from our Marathi, Gujarati or English schools are doing well in life. One is a doctor, 3 are Civil Engineers, some have become Forest Rangers, artists, nurses, teachers, and many are employed in Government offices, etc. And these in turn make it a point to give good education to their children. We have also 5 priests, 7 seminarians and 4 sisters from this Mission. The ex-students of Gyanmata High School, Khanvel, have formed an Association which supports and helps in a small way some of the poor students.The Government also has established many Schools and Hostels, but the management and the standard is far below expectation; therefore the parents prefer the Mission Schools.

Much has been done by the fathers and sisters in the area of Social Work. Earlier we had Cooperative Societies and Rice Banks to help them ration their grains. The tribals were accustomed to live for the day. Once they got a good harvest, they would not work, but go on cooking and eating and finishing the grains within few months. Then they would come to the fathers for help. The Rice Banks stored all their grains and gave them each month only the quantity required for that month. Today the situation has improved a lot.

Now we have the Social Service Adivasi Society (SSAS) started by the Pilar Fathers. It is a registered Society which facilitates the procurement and utilization of funds, and co- ordinates the different welfare activities of the Mission. The SSAS implements the Food-for-work programmes of the Catholic Relief Services (CRS). In the past years, acres of arable land have been leveled and a number of bhunds, wells and homes have been constructed for the benefit of the poor. There is a Samaj Seva Kendra in every Parish/ Chaplaincy to carry out the programmes of the CRS, Mother and child programmes, women Empowerment, DAI Training, etc are the regular programmes conducted by the SSAS.

Thus the Mission carries out a lot of social work, but it has yet to make a significant dent in the area of Social Action. Poverty and exploitation are alleviated through social work, but perhaps not tackled at the root. The manifestations of unjust systems prevailing in the rest of rural India, are still present in this area. There is need to protect the rights of the people and to ensure their enjoyment of the privileges due to them, given their status by the Constitution as Scheduled Tribes. Government allocation of funds and benefits hardly reach the deserving beneficiaries viz: the poor masses, but get clogged due to vested interests at different bureaucratic levels.

It has been a joy for the Pilar Fathers to work with the Tribals of Dadra Nagarhaveli. Seeing that many have grown, are well placed, occupying important places in the Society, have picked up basic human and Christian Values - is a matter of great pride. Through our Educational, Social and Pastoral Apostolate we have been able to take care of the people. The Christian Families are strong in faith. The face of Nagar Haveli is fast changing.

At the same time, we see that at times the response of many is not what we expect. Some are still with that notion that fathers and sisters have lot of money, and they have to give it to them. In the past some of our fathers have even been hammered by the tribals. But we have not given up. The sowing of the seed continues. God in his own time will allow the seed to germinate and grow. We move on with Hope......

Provincial Superior, Mumbai Province