The document discusses issues facing Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) in India. It provides background on tribal populations globally and in India. PVTGs face vulnerabilities from natural factors like geography and environment as well as man-made factors like development projects. The document includes tables with population data on PVTGs in different states and recommendations from a national consultation on PVTG development, including creating a rights-respecting environment, sustainable livelihood strategies, and participatory development. It stresses the need for region-specific plans, periodic assessment, local resource use, and accountability of implementing agencies.

1. Vulnerable Tribal Groups
(PVTGs) in INDIA: issues and
challenges

3. Global status of tribe
Present situation:
There are approximately two hundred
million tribal people in the entire globe,
which means, about 4% of the global
population.
They inhabit many regions of the world
and majority of them are the poorest
amongst poor. Among tribes, there are
so many communities.

4. Tribal status in India
Tribal in India, geographically and culturally,
are at widely different stages of social as well
as economic development and their problems
differ from area to area within their own
groups. The tribesman lives not only for
himself alone, but also he is an integral part of
the community to which he belongs.

5. Tribal communities live in about 15% of the country’s
landmass in various ecological and geo-climatic
conditions ranging from plains to forests, hills and
inaccessible areas. Tribal groups are at different stages
of social, economic and educational development. While
some tribal communities have adopted a mainstream
way of life at one end of the spectrum, there are tribal
groups, at the other, who are characterized by (a) a pre-
agriculture level of technology, (b) a stagnant or
declining population (c) extremely low literacy and (d) a
subsistence level of economy.

6. Particularly vulnerable tribal groups
75 such groups in 17 States and 1
Union Territory has been identified
and has been categorized as
Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups
(earlier known as Primitive Tribal
Groups).

7. Tribal communities become vulnerable in the
following ways:
1.Natural:These include
anthological/genetic factors (like, the
Juangs of Keonjhar), geographical factors
(remoteness of the area, difficult
terrain/physiographic, limited resources,
etc.), and environmental factors (like, rain
shadow area, low soil fertility, etc.).

8. 2. Man-made: These factors include socio-
economic and socio-cultural practices (like, food
habits), customary taboos, external interventions
such as mining & Industrialization, etc...
As per 2001 census, the 75 Particularly
Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) have a total
population of 27, 68,322, and live in remote and
scattered geographical locations.

10. THE PRESENT SCENARIO
 India is not the only country
where mining and
industrialization in tribal areas is
linked with retarded economic
performance.
 Resource curse.
 Blame on institutional weakness
and political economy.
 People embrace Naxalism due
to present model of
development.
 It gains popularity by focusing
on attainment of tribal self
determination and control over
local resources.
 Crisis of political empowerment.
 Naxalites have attacked both
private companies and
government institutions.
 The government has acted in a
stubborn manner, myopically
seeing it as only a ‘internal
security threat’.
 Need to recognize the failure
of governance, understand the
basic reasons and to have
political will to institutionalize
alternative policies.
 To give people and
communities the right to say
‘no’ to a developmental
project.

11. Table-1-
PVTGs With More than One Lakh Population (2001 Census)
Sl.No. PVTGs Population
1 Saharias are both in Madhya Pradesh
& Chattisgarh
4,50,217
2 Baigas in Madhya Pradesh /
Chattisgarh
3,32,936
3 Katkarias/Kathodis) in Maharashtra 2,35,022
4 Kolam in Maharashtra 1,73,646
5 Riang (Tripura) 1,65,103
6 Hill Kharia (Jharkhand) 1,64,022
7 Irulas in Tamil Nadu 1,55,606
8 Mal Paharia (Jharkhand) 1,15,093
Total 17,91,645

12. Table 2
PVTGs With More than 50,000 Population (2001 Census)
Sl.No PVTGs Population
1 Konda Reddis (Andhra
Pradesh)
83,096
2 Dongaria Khond (Andhra
Pradesh)
85,324
3 Saharia (Rajasthan) 76,237
4 Lodha (West Bengal) 84,966
Total 3,29,623

13. Table – 3
PVTGs With Less than 1000 Population (2001 Census)
Sl. No. PVTGs Population
1 Birjia (Bihar) 17
2 Sentinelests 39
3 Great Andamanese 43
4 Onge 96
5 Birhor (Madhya Pradesh) 143
6 Asur (Bihar) 181
7 Mankidias (Orissa) 205
8 Jarawa 240
9 Cholanaicken (Kerala) 326
10 Shompen 398
11 Birhor (Bihar) 406
12 Savar (Bihar) 420
13 Raji (Uttaranchal) 517
14 Sauria Paharia (Bihar) 585
15 Birhor (Orissa) 702
16 Korwa (Bihar) 703
17 Todas (Tamil Nadu) 875
18 Kota (Tamil Nadu) 925

14. Table – 4
Ranking of the PVTG Population in Different States (2001 Census)
Sl.No. State No. of PVTGs Population
2001 Census
Ranking
population-
wise
1 Chattisgarh + MP 08 7,85,720 1
2 Maharashtra 03 4,08,668 2
3 Jharkhand 09 3,87,358 3
4 Andhra Pradesh 12 3,34,144 4
5 Tamil Nadu 06 2,17,937 5
6 Tripura 01 1,65,103 6
7 Gujarat 05 1,06,775 7
8 West Bengal 03 85,983 8
9 Rajasthan 01 76,237 9
10 Orissa 13 68,745 10
11 Uttaranchal 02 47,288 11
12 Karnataka 02 45,899 12
13 Kerala 05 20,186 13
14 Bihar 09 10,873 14
15 Uttar Pradesh 02 5,365 15
16 Manipur 01 1,225 16
17 Andaman & Nicobar 05 816 17
Total 87 27,68,322*

15. The National Advisory Council, Government of India, organized
two national level Consultations on Developmental Challenges
Specific to Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs); first on
21st February, 2013 at the National Institute of Rural Development
(NIRD), Hyderabad, and second in the Planning Commission, New
Delhi, on 15th May, 2013.
The objective of holding these two consultations was to evolve a
sensitive and appropriate policy framework for PVTGs that
addresses the concerns of protecting their livelihoods, cultural
identity and habitats while facilitating their access to development
programmes and services and to improve their quality of life.

16. Recommendation 1
Create an environment in which the state and non-state actors realize their responsibilities to respect, protect, and
fulfill PVTGs' rights.
Recommendation 2
Develop sustainable livelihood strategies for the PVTGs
Recommendation 3
Participatory development approach should be followed
Recommendation 4
Evolve effective service delivery mechanism for the development of the PVTGs
Recommendation 5
Separate Census for the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) should be undertaken
Recommendation 6
All Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) should be given the status of Scheduled Tribes
Recommendation 7
Prepare vulnerability indices of the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)
Recommendation 8
Control factors that contribute to decline in the population of the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs).
Recommendation 9
Launch special drive to improve educational status of the PVTGs

17. Discussion:
The PVTGs are in need of special and undivided attention
on priority for their protection and development in view of
their fragile living conditions emerging out of their
prevailing socio-economic backwardness, vulnerability and
diminishing numbers.
The current notion of tribal development is largely based
on ‘area development’ and ‘community participation’. That
there are different landholdings groups or classes, that
there are big and small tribes in each village, or mandal, or
district, those women have to be treated specifically are all
issues that need to be fully built into the philosophy of
tribal development. This will contribute to more equitable
and sustainable development

18. Serious and urgent measures must be taken by
the Government to maintain the physical and
social assets created under the TDP. In terms of
natural resource management, as well as social
programmes, much has been achieved, but the
achievements are still fragile. In order to be
sustainable, further investment in infrastructure,
training programmes and adaptive research is
essential. It is also essential that the levels of
competence and commitment of the senior
officers, in particular the ITDA project officers, be
maintained

19. The Government must continue its commitment to
participatory approaches to development
programmes and to a step-wise transfer of
decision-making to the local level, with a
concurrent emphasis on capacity-building .
The sustainability of community institutions must
be viewed in terms of a much longer time-scale
than simply the seven years of project duration.
Further, such community institutions should not
be designed only for service delivery or acceptance
purposes, but should be seen more broadly as
platforms for community participation and
empowerment.

20. Conclusion and recommendation:
In addition to above following points may be considered for development of PVTGs:
•Plan must be region based with a slant towards ethnicity and co-existence.
•Plan should be such that socio-economic barriers and carriers be focused to have a
desirable change within a limited time e.g. Hill settlers to be settled in plain areas-
example Hill Korwa in CG.
•Periodic assessment of plans to make any change when required.
Phase wise implementation work with provision for follow up schemes so that hostile
communities should not be disturbed.
•Local resources should be tapped to develop a sense of belongingness, the present
practice of outside men and material be discouraged.
• Long gestation character of schemes be discouraged o minimize public expenditure
ratio.
•All ITDAs must be made functional and accountable to govt. and people with strong
monitoring mechanism by the ministry.
•Special fund allocation for PTGs should not be deviated to admin functions as in
practice in many states

21. References:
1. Ratha . Bikash, 2012 The Regional Consultation On
Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups Of Odisha And The
National Rural Livelihood Mission, RCDC, Bhubaneswar
2. NAC draft recommendations on Development
Challenges Specific to Particularly Vulnerable Tribal
Groups (PVTGs), 2013, Jun 19,
3. Sharma. V.P 2012 Participatory Development, Ramesh
Chandra edited book Tribal Development and
Administration and Management, DEC, National
Institute of Rural Development, Ministry of Rural
Development, Government of India, Hyderabad (AP),