How has national development impacted tribal development?

(A) Tribal areas located in mineral rich and forest covered parts of the country paid a disproportionately high price for development.
(B) Large dams, factories and mines were built in Nehruvian era.
(C) Tribals were dispossessed of their land for setting up hydroelectric power plants.
(D) These developments benefitted the tribes at the expense of others.

Choose the correct answer from the options given below:

The correct answer is (A), (B) and (C) only.

To understand the relationship between national development and tribal development, let us analyze each of the given statements step-by-step:

1. Statement (A): Tribal areas located in mineral-rich and forest-covered parts of the country paid a disproportionately high price for development.
This statement is correct. A significant portion of India's mineral wealth, forests, and water resources are located in tribal tracts. The acquisition of these lands for national development projects (like mining and heavy industries) led to massive displacement, loss of livelihood, and ecological degradation for the tribal populations, meaning they bore a disproportionate share of the costs of national development.

2. Statement (B): Large dams, factories and mines were built in Nehruvian era.
This statement is correct. The post-independence era, particularly under the leadership of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, focused heavily on state-led industrialization. Large-scale public sector projects, including massive dams (referred to by Nehru as the "temples of modern India"), mines, and steel plants, were constructed during this period, often situated in resource-rich tribal regions.

3. Statement (C): Tribals were dispossessed of their land for setting up hydroelectric power plants.
This statement is correct. The construction of massive hydroelectric projects and reservoirs required submerging vast tracts of land. Because these projects were built in hilly and forested river valleys inhabited by indigenous communities, millions of tribals were dispossessed of their ancestral lands and forced to migrate without adequate rehabilitation.

4. Statement (D): These developments benefitted the tribes at the expense of others.
This statement is incorrect. The process of national development historically marginalized tribal communities instead of benefitting them. The benefits of industrialization, electricity, and mineral extraction went primarily to the mainstream urban population and industries, while the tribal communities lost their resource base and faced impoverishment. Thus, others benefitted at the expense of the tribes, not the other way around.

Therefore, statements (A), (B), and (C) accurately describe the impacts and historical context of national development on tribal development, making (A), (B) and (C) only the correct choice.