Important Tribes of India – UPSC

• A tribe is a social group of a traditional society: households bound by common descent, a common dialect, a shared culture and a territory, with its own social, economic, religious and political institutions.
• India has one of the largest and most diverse tribal populations in the world: 10.45 crore Scheduled Tribes (STs), or 8.6% of the population (Census 2011), in 705 notified communities.
• Tribes live mainly in the hills, forests, plateaus and islands: the north-eastern hills, the central belt from Gujarat to Odisha, the Western Ghats and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
• Their composition and spatial pattern mirror India’s physical geography: numerical dominance in central India, proportional dominance in the north-east.

Tribes and Scheduled Tribes

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Concept of a Tribe

• A tribe is usually recognised by a cluster of traits:
  • Early roots in the soil of its territory.
  • Life in relative isolation in hills and forests.
  • A distinct culture: language, institutions, beliefs and customs.
  • A low level of techno-economic development and a subsistence economy.
  • A shallow written history: after a few generations, remembered history merges into myth.
  • A society that is non-hierarchic and undifferentiated, even where it is not egalitarian.
• Shyama Charan Dube pointed out that these are only rough indicators:
  • Not all tribes are original inhabitants, and not all live in isolation.
  • The three largest, the Bhils, Gonds and Santhals, live alongside non-tribal neighbours.
  • Many tribes are divided into endogamous sub-groups that behave like castes.
• “Tribe” is a socio-cultural category; “Scheduled Tribe” is a legal and administrative one. A community becomes an ST only when it is notified.

Race and Ethnicity

• Race refers to inherited physical variation (skin and eye colour, hair, facial form) that arose through geographical separation within one species, Homo sapiens sapiens.
• Ethnicity refers to cultural identity: shared language, religion, ancestry, regional culture and group history.
• Tribal identity is ethnic rather than racial. The older racial labels (Negrito, Proto-Australoid, Mongoloid) survive only as broad descriptions of India’s racial, linguistic and ethnic diversity.

Constitutional Definition

• Article 366(25) defines STs as the tribes or tribal communities, or parts of or groups within them, deemed under Article 342 to be STs.
• Article 342:
  • The President, after consulting the Governor, specifies the STs of each State or Union Territory by public notification.
  • Only Parliament, by law, can later add a community to the list or remove one.
  • Lists are therefore State-wise, not all-India. A community can be an ST in one State and not in the next.
    • The Lambada (Banjara) are STs in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh but SCs in Karnataka.
    • The Gujjars are STs in Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh but not in Rajasthan or Uttar Pradesh.
• The Constitution gives no criteria. The Lokur Committee (1965) suggested five, still used:
  • “indications of primitive traits” (the committee’s wording), distinctive culture, geographical isolation, shyness of contact with the wider community, and backwardness.
• Lists keep changing. The Pahari ethnic group of Jammu and Kashmir, for example, was added in 2024.
• STs also hold reserved seats in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies (Articles 330, 332) and get reservation in education and public jobs.

Institutions

• Ministry of Tribal Affairs (1999):
  • Carved out of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment for a focused, integrated approach to ST development.
  • It is the nodal ministry for policy, planning and coordination. Sectoral ministries and States run their own schemes for STs, which it monitors.
• National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST):
  • Created by Article 338A, inserted by the 89th Amendment (2003). It began work on 19 February 2004, when the joint SC–ST commission was split into two.
  • It investigates safeguards, hears complaints and advises on planning for ST development.
• Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP), now the Development Action Plan for STs:
  • States and Central ministries earmark funds at least in proportion to the ST population.
  • The funds are meant to be non-divertible and non-lapsable.
  • Its working in tribal areas is part of the wider story of tribal development.

Tribal Population at a Glance

• Census 2011:
  • 10.45 crore STs; about 90% rural.
  • Decadal growth 23.7% (2001–11), against 17.7% for India.
  • Sex ratio 990, against 943 for India.
  • Literacy 59%, against 73% for India.
• Largest numbers: Madhya Pradesh (1.53 crore, 14.7% of India’s STs, though STs are 21.1% of the State’s people), then Maharashtra and Odisha.
• Highest shares: Lakshadweep (94.8%) and Mizoram (94.4%), then Nagaland and Meghalaya.
• No STs notified: Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Chandigarh and Puducherry.
• Largest tribes:
  • The Bhils (1.71 crore) and Gonds (1.33 crore) together make up nearly three in ten of India’s STs.
  • The Santhals, Minas, Oraons and Mundas follow.
• Smallest groups: the Andaman PVTGs. Census 2011 counted only 44 Great Andamanese and 101 Onge, and estimated 15 Sentinelese.

Classification of Indian Tribes

By Region

• India’s tribes fall into five broad regions, each tied to a physical setting:

• Central and eastern India holds nearly half of all STs (47% in 2011, counting Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh).
  • Its tribes speak Austro-Asiatic and Dravidian languages and live on the mineral-rich plateaus, where mining and dams have displaced many.
• Western India (Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu) holds about 28%.
  • Its large Bhil, Mina and Koli groups speak Indo-Aryan tongues and live in close contact with caste society.
• The north-east holds only 12% of India’s STs, but they form the majority in four States.
  • Its tribes speak Tibeto-Burman languages, practise jhum and terrace farming, and are largely Christian. Most of the Sixth Schedule councils are here.
• The south (about 11%) has small, scattered groups in the Western and Eastern Ghats and the Nilgiris, with many PVTGs.
• The Himalayan north (about 2%) has pastoral and trans-Himalayan groups such as the Gaddi, Gujjar, Bhotia and the Buddhist tribes of Ladakh.
• The islands (0.1%) hold the most isolated groups of all.

By Language Family

• Tribal languages belong to all four major language families of India, plus the Andamanese languages:

• Santhali and Bodo are among the 22 scheduled languages (added in 2003). Many smaller tribal languages are endangered, a theme of linguistic diversity in India.

By Economy

• Hunting and gathering: Jarawa, Onge, Shompen, Sentinelese; Chenchu, Kadar, Birhor, Cholanaikkan.
• Shifting cultivation (jhum in the north-east, podu or bewar in central India): Naga groups, Garo, Mizo, Khond, Baiga, Hill Maria, Saora.
• Settled agriculture: Bhil, Gond, Santhal, Munda, Oraon, Mina, Bodo, Apatani.
• Pastoralism and transhumance: Toda (buffaloes), Gaddi (sheep and goats), Gujjar and Bakarwal, Bhotia, Changpa (Ladakh).
• Crafts and specialist work: Asur (iron smelting), Birhor (rope-making), Lohar groups.
• Wage labour: Santhal, Oraon and Munda workers in the tea gardens of Assam and the Dooars, and in mines and factories.

By Racial Stock (Classical View)

• The older anthropometric schemes placed tribes in three groups:
  • Negrito: the Andaman tribes.
  • Proto-Australoid: most central and southern tribes.
  • Mongoloid: the north-eastern and Himalayan tribes.
• Modern genetics shows deep admixture across India. These labels are now used only descriptively; the racial groups of India are treated critically.

Social Organisation and Belief

• Kinship: most tribes are divided into exogamous clans, often with a totem (an animal, plant or object the clan does not harm).
  • Most are patrilineal. The Khasi, Jaintia and Garo of Meghalaya are matrilineal.
  • Bride price is common, in place of dowry, and divorce and widow remarriage are generally allowed.
• Village institutions:
  • Traditional councils settle disputes and manage land and forests: the Munda parha, the Santhal manjhi system, and the village councils of the Naga and Khasi.
  • Youth dormitories train the young in work, music and custom: the Gond ghotul, the Oraon dhumkuria, the Naga morung and the Garo nokpante.
• Land and forest:
  • Land is often held by the clan or village, with individual use rights.
  • Commons (forests, grazing land, water) are central to livelihoods, and sacred groves protect patches of forest.
• Belief:
  • Traditional faiths centre on nature, ancestors and spirits: the Sarna faith of Chotanagpur, Donyi-Polo in Arunachal Pradesh, Bathou among the Bodos.
  • Most north-eastern tribes (Mizo, Naga, Khasi, Garo) are now largely Christian. Many central Indian tribes have absorbed Hindu practices. The Chakma and Bhutia are Buddhist.
• Women have relatively higher status in many tribal societies, which shows in a sex ratio of 990 (2011) and a high share of women in farm and forest work.

Isolation and Change

• Isolation has preserved culture:
  • Hills, forests and islands kept tribal languages, customs, crafts and resource systems intact for centuries.
  • The Abujhmar hills of Bastar, the Niyamgiri hills and the Andaman forests show how difficult terrain shelters distinct ways of life.
  • The north-east’s isolation kept the caste order out, so tribal societies there remained relatively egalitarian.
• Isolation has also held back development:
  • Remote, scattered settlements make roads, schools, health care and markets costly to provide.
  • Low literacy, poor health and a subsistence economy persist where contact is least, as among most PVTGs.
  • Isolated groups are the most exposed when contact finally comes: the epidemics among the Great Andamanese, or the Jarawa after the trunk road.
• Forms of contact and change:
  • Sanskritisation and Hinduisation in central India, and Christianisation in the north-east.
  • Market integration, wage work and migration to cities, mines and plantations.
  • Political assertion, which won tribal-majority States (Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh) and autonomous councils.
• The policy debate has swung between isolation (protecting tribes as they are), assimilation (absorbing them into the mainstream) and integration (development on their own terms). Since Independence, India has followed integration.

Important Tribes of India

State-wise Distribution

Tribes of Central and Eastern India

• Bhil:
  • India’s largest tribe (1.71 crore, 2011), spread over the Aravalli, Vindhya and Satpura hills of Rajasthan (Udaipur, Banswara, Dungarpur), Madhya Pradesh (Jhabua, Alirajpur), Gujarat and Maharashtra.
  • Known as the bowmen of Rajasthan. They speak Bhili, an Indo-Aryan language.
  • Culture: the Ghoomar and Gair dances, the Bhagoria haat before Holi in western Madhya Pradesh, and the Baneshwar fair at the confluence of the Som and Mahi (Dungarpur).
• Gond:
  • The second-largest tribe (1.33 crore). The name Gondwana comes from them.
  • Spread over the Satpura–Maikal hills of Madhya Pradesh (Chhindwara, Mandla, Dindori), Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Telangana (Adilabad) and Odisha.
  • They speak Gondi, a Dravidian language. They are mainly settled farmers in mud-walled, thatched villages.
  • Bastar’s Muria Gonds keep the ghotul (youth dormitory). The Pardhan Gonds are known for Gond painting.
  • Festivals: the Keslapur (Nagoba) Jatara and Madai.
• Baiga (“sorcerer” or medicine man):
  • A PVTG of the Maikal hills of Madhya Pradesh (Mandla, Dindori, Balaghat) and Chhattisgarh.
  • Traditionally semi-nomadic shifting cultivators (bewar), now dependent on minor forest produce, with bamboo as the key resource.
  • Tattooing (godna) marks every age and body part.
  • In 2015 the Baigas of Baiga Chak (Dindori) became the first community in India to receive habitat rights under the Forest Rights Act.
• Munda (“village headman”):
  • Centred on Ranchi and Khunti in Jharkhand, with groups in Odisha, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh.
  • They speak Mundari (Austro-Asiatic). Once hunters, they are now farmers and labourers.
  • They follow the Sarna faith and worship Singbonga (the Sun). Festivals: Mage, Karam, Sarhul and Phagu.
  • Khuntkatti (clan ownership of land cleared by founders) shaped Chotanagpur’s tenancy laws.
  • Birsa Munda led the Ulgulan (1899–1900). His birth anniversary, 15 November, is observed as Janjatiya Gaurav Divas.
• Santhal:
  • The third-largest tribe (65.7 lakh) and the largest in Jharkhand. Also found in West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar and the tea gardens of Assam.
  • They led the Santhal Hul (1855–56) under Sidhu and Kanhu against British rule and moneylenders. It led to the separate Santhal Parganas district (1855).
  • They are settled farmers and skilled hunters.
  • Santhali, written in the Ol Chiki script, is a scheduled language.
  • They follow the Sarna faith with sacred groves rather than temples or idols. Festivals: Karam, Sohrai and Baha.
• Oraon and Ho:
  • The Oraons (36.8 lakh) speak Kurukh (Dravidian), keep the dhumkuria youth dormitory and celebrate Sarhul.
  • The Hos of Kolhan (West Singhbhum) are Munda-speaking farmers.
• Mina:
  • The largest ST of Rajasthan (43.5 lakh), also in Madhya Pradesh.
  • They trace descent to the Matsya avatar of Vishnu and the ancient Matsya kingdom.
  • They are divided into clans and sub-clans (adakhs, such as Ahari, Katara, Kharadi, Damor and Parmar).
  • They are among the most educationally and politically advanced STs. They opposed the Gurjar demand for ST status in Rajasthan, fearing a dilution of reservation.
• Khond (Kondh):
  • The largest tribe of Odisha. They speak Kui (Dravidian) and practise shifting cultivation (podu).
  • The Dongria Kondh of the Niyamgiri hills (a PVTG) worship the hills as their deity, Niyam Raja.
    • In 2013 the Supreme Court left the decision on bauxite mining to the local gram sabhas. All twelve rejected it, and the Environment Ministry refused clearance in 2014.
• Toto:
  • A PVTG of a single village, Totopara, in Alipurduar district (West Bengal), near the Bhutan border.
  • They speak a Tibeto-Burman language. They trade fruit and vegetables and worship Ishpa and Cheima while also identifying as Hindus.

Tribes of the North-East and the Himalaya

• Bodo:
  • Assam’s largest plains tribe (13.6 lakh), of Tibeto-Burman stock, believed to be among the earliest settlers of the Brahmaputra valley. They are also found in West Bengal and Nagaland.
  • Bodo is a scheduled language. Handloom weaving is central to their culture.
  • Bathou is the traditional faith. Bwisagu marks the spring new year.
  • The Bodoland Territorial Region (under the Sixth Schedule) followed the 2003 and 2020 Bodo Accords.
• Naga tribes of Nagaland:
  • Angami:
    • Centred on Kohima, famous for terraced wet-rice cultivation.
    • They celebrate Sekrenyi. Men wear the white mhoushu and black lohe shawls.
    • They are also known for cane, bamboo and wood carving.
  • Hornbill Festival:
    • Held at Kisama near Kohima every year from 1 to 10 December since 2000. It opens on Nagaland’s Statehood Day.
    • It showcases all of Nagaland’s major tribes: Angami, Ao, Chakhesang, Chang, Khiamniungan, Konyak, Lotha, Phom, Pochury, Rengma, Sangtam, Sumi, Yimkhiung, Zeliang, Kuki, Kachari and Garo.
  • Rengma: a patrilineal Naga tribe practising jhum; once animist and now largely Christian; the women are expert weavers.
  • Konyak (“black head”):
    • The largest tribe of Nagaland, in Mon district.
    • Former headhunters with tattooed faces; men wore deer-horn earrings and boar-tusk necklaces. Now Christian farmers.
    • Festival: Aoleang (April, spring).
• Bhutia:
  • Sikkim and the Darjeeling hills, of Tibetan ancestry. They speak Sikkimese (Lhopo) and follow Buddhism.
  • Known for momos and thukpa. Festivals: Losar and Losoong.
• Lepcha:
  • The earliest inhabitants of Sikkim and the Darjeeling–Kalimpong hills, calling themselves Rong. Dzongu in North Sikkim is reserved for them.
  • Their language is Tibeto-Burman with its own script.
  • Nature worshippers who later adopted Buddhism. They grow large cardamom, keep cattle and grow horticultural crops.
• Bru (Reang):
  • Indigenous to Tripura, Mizoram and Assam. In Tripura they are the second-largest tribe and a PVTG.
  • About 37,000 Brus fled Mizoram after ethnic clashes in 1997 and lived for over two decades in relief camps in North Tripura.
  • Repatriation to Mizoram under a 2018 agreement failed. A January 2020 agreement among the Centre, Tripura, Mizoram and Bru leaders provided for their permanent settlement in Tripura.
• Chakma:
  • Mizoram (with its own autonomous district council), Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh. They are genetically close to the Tibeto-Burman groups of the north-east.
  • They trace descent from the Sakya clan of the Buddha; their ancestors migrated through Arakan to the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
  • The Kaptai Dam (1960s) submerged their lands there. Many settled in NEFA (Arunachal Pradesh) in 1964–69. Conflict in the Chittagong Hill Tracts continued until the 1997 peace accord.
  • Theravada Buddhists who speak Chakma, an Indo-Aryan language. Festivals: Bizu and Kathin Civar Dan.
• Khasi:
  • The Khasi Hills of Meghalaya, with groups in Assam. They speak Khasi, an Austro-Asiatic language. Most are Christian.
  • Matrilineal: lineage and property pass through women, and the youngest daughter (khadduh) inherits the ancestral house.
  • Known for music and the Nongkrem dance. The living root bridges of the Khasi and Jaintia hills are on UNESCO’s tentative list.
• Garo:
  • The Garo Hills of Meghalaya and parts of Assam: one of the few matrilineal societies in the world.
  • Distinctive buildings: the nokpante (bachelors’ house), the nokmong and the jamsireng granary.
  • The Wangala (“hundred drums”) harvest festival honours the Sun god Saljong.
• Nyishi:
  • One of the largest tribes of Arunachal Pradesh, in the Kurung Kumey, Papum Pare and Subansiri districts.
  • They speak Nyishi (Tani group). Many are now Christian. Festival: Nyokum.
• Apatani:
  • Settled in the Ziro valley of Arunachal Pradesh.
  • Famous for wet-rice and fish culture: two rice crops (Mipya and Emoh) and one fish crop (Ngihi) are raised together on the same plots.
  • They follow a sustainable social forestry system of pine and bamboo groves. They worship the Sun and Moon (Donyi-Polo).
  • Festivals: Dree (for a good harvest) and Myoko (friendship).
  • The Apatani cultural landscape is on UNESCO’s tentative list of World Heritage sites for its productivity and ecological balance.
• Gaddi:
  • Transhumant shepherds of the Dhauladhar range in Himachal Pradesh (Chamba, Bharmour, Kangra).
  • They winter in the valleys and summer on high pastures with sheep, goats, mules and horses.
  • Mostly Hindu, with a few Muslims. They speak Gaddi, written in Takri in the past and in Devanagari now. Festivals: Shivratri and local jatras.
• Gujjar and Bakarwal:
  • Pastoral and dairy communities of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, with Hindu and Muslim segments.
  • They practise transhumance to the Pir Panjal and Kashmir meadows.
  • Historically the Gurjaras spread from Kashmir to Gujarat and Maharashtra, giving Gujarat its name and founding kingdoms.

Tribes of Western and Southern India

• Warli:
  • Thane–Palghar (Maharashtra) and the Gujarat border.
  • Famous for Warli painting, made with rice paste on mud and cow-dung walls, with bamboo brushes and red ochre.
  • They perform the Tarpa dance at harvest.
• Chenchu:
  • A PVTG of the Nallamala hills (Andhra Pradesh and Telangana), around the Nagarjunsagar–Srisailam and Amrabad tiger reserves, and in Kurnool, Nalgonda and Guntur.
  • Hunter-gatherers who trade in honey, roots, gums, fruits and tubers. They speak a Telugu dialect.
  • They hold the Srisailam shrine sacred and celebrate Mahashivaratri.
• Lambada (Banjara, Sugali):
  • The largest ST of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, also found in Karnataka and Rajasthan.
  • They live in separate settlements called tandas, away from the main village, and guard their identity closely.
  • Traditionally cattle breeders and carriers who sold milk products. Known for mirror-work embroidery. Festivals: Teej and Ugadi.
• Siddi:
  • Of African (Bantu) descent: their ancestors came as traders, sailors and slaves with the Portuguese and Arab trade.
  • Found in Uttara Kannada (Karnataka), the Gir area of Gujarat (a PVTG there) and Goa.
  • Mostly Christian in Karnataka, with Hindu and Muslim groups elsewhere. Known for the dhamal dance and music.
• Kodava (Coorg):
  • A martial, patrilineal community of Kodagu: farmers and planters, passionate about hockey.
  • They speak Kodava and are exempt from the arms licence requirement.
  • They are not a notified ST; some groups seek that status.
• Koraga:
  • A PVTG of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada (Karnataka) and Kasaragod (Kerala).
  • They once lived in leaf huts (koppu) and wore leaf garments. They are known for basket weaving, dollu drumming and flute music.
  • The degrading Ajalu practice was banned by Karnataka in 2000, but cases have still been reported.
  • They are endogamous within three subdivisions (Sappina, Ande, Kappada). Their Koraga language has no script. They worship spirits (bhutas) and a sun god.
• Kadar:
  • A PVTG of the Anamalai and Parambikulam hills (Kerala and Tamil Nadu).
  • They practise no agriculture. They are specialists in collecting honey and wax, which they trade for food.
  • They live in temporary leaf shelters, shift with work, and revere forest spirits.
• Toda:
  • A PVTG of the Nilgiris: buffalo pastoralists whose life revolves around dairy.
  • They live in barrel-vaulted, thatched huts (mund).
  • Toda embroidery (pukhoor) has a GI tag. Festival: Modhweth.
• Irula:
  • The Nilgiris and Tamil Nadu plains, and Attappadi (Palakkad, Kerala).
  • Farmers of ragi, paddy, pulses, chillies, turmeric and plantains.
  • Famous as snake and rat catchers: their cooperative supplies venom for antivenom.
• Kattunayakan (“king of the jungle”):
  • A PVTG of Wayanad and the Nilgiris, also in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh; also called Cholanaickar and Pathinaickar.
  • Hunters and honey gatherers. They worship Shiva (as Bhairava), Jakkamma and nature: animals, trees, rocks and snakes.
  • They are monogamous. Child marriage, once common, has given way to later marriage.
• Cholanaikkan:
  • One of the smallest PVTGs. They live in the Nilambur forests (Karulai and Chungathara ranges, Malappuram, Kerala) and are said to have come from the Mysore forests.
  • The name comes from chola (“deep evergreen forest”) and naikan (“king”).
  • They live in rock shelters (kallulai) or leaf camps and survive by food gathering, hunting and minor forest produce. Their language is Dravidian.
• Kanikkar:
  • The Agasthyamalai hills of Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) and Kanyakumari (Tamil Nadu).
  • Semi-nomadic farmers who also hunt and fish, living in bamboo and reed huts on hillsides. Kanikkar Nritham is a group dance performed as an offering.
  • Their knowledge of the arogyappacha plant led to the herbal drug Jeevani and an early benefit-sharing agreement with the community.
• Kurumba:
  • Among the earliest settlers of the Western Ghats (Nilgiris, Attappadi); a PVTG.
  • They live by farming and gathering honey and wax, and are skilled in herbal medicine.

Tribes of the Islands

• Great Andamanese:
  • About 5,000 before British settlement in 1858. Conflict and epidemics of measles, influenza and syphilis reduced them to 44 (Census 2011).
  • Resettled on Strait Island. They speak a mixed Jeru-based tongue; the last speaker of Bo died in 2010.
• Onge:
  • Dugong Creek, Little Andaman (101 in 2011): semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers.
  • Their numbers fell after contact changed their diet and habits. Fertility is very low and child mortality has been very high.
  • They speak Önge, one of the two Ongan languages.
• Jarawa:
  • The forests of South and Middle Andaman (380 in 2011). They largely avoided contact with outsiders.
  • The Andaman Trunk Road, built through their reserve from the 1970s, brought contact, disease and “human safaris”.
  • The Supreme Court banned tourist traffic on the road in January 2013, then allowed it in escorted convoys in March 2013 because the road links more than 350 villages.
• Sentinelese:
  • North Sentinel Island (estimated 15 in 2011): among the world’s last uncontacted peoples, protected by a no-visit policy.
  • Hunter-gatherers and fishers using bows, arrows and spears; they use fire but are not known to farm.
• Shompen:
  • Great Nicobar: hunter-gatherers (229 in 2011) who hunt pigs, birds and small animals and forage forest foods.
  • They live in stilted huts walled with woven material and roofed with palm fronds. Men carry bows, spears, hatchets and fire drills.
  • Their language is distinct from Nicobarese. The Great Nicobar development project has raised concern over their habitat.
• Nicobarese:
  • The largest tribe of the islands (27,168 in 2011): horticulturists and fishers with coconut-based economies.
• Lakshadweep:
  • The islanders, descended from settlers from the Malabar coast (Amindivi, Koya, Malmi and Melacheri), form 94.8% of its people. They are almost all Muslim.

Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups

Identification and Criteria

• PVTGs are the most vulnerable among the STs:
  • Their populations are stagnant or declining, and their literacy extremely low.
  • They use a pre-agricultural level of technology and live at a subsistence level.
  • Most live in remote, small and scattered habitations with poor infrastructure and services.
• Evolution:
  • The Dhebar Commission (1960–61) first noted wide inequalities among tribes.
  • During the Fifth Plan (1975) the Government identified 52 Primitive Tribal Groups (PTGs) as a separate category.
  • 23 more were added in 1993, making 75.
  • The category was renamed PVTGs in 2006.
• The four criteria: a pre-agricultural level of technology, a stagnant or declining population, extremely low literacy, and a subsistence economy.

Distribution

• The 75 PVTGs live in 18 States and one UT (Andaman and Nicobar).
• Odisha has the most (13), followed by undivided Andhra Pradesh (12).
• The PM-JANMAN habitation survey counted about 48.5 lakh PVTG members in 30,597 habitations.
  • Madhya Pradesh (13.9 lakh) and Maharashtra (6.7 lakh) lead.

Development of PVTGs

• Scheme for the Development of PVTGs (Ministry of Tribal Affairs):
  • Each State or UT prepares Conservation-cum-Development (CCD) plans from a needs assessment. A project appraisal committee of the ministry approves them.
  • PVTGs also get priority under Special Central Assistance, grants under Article 275(1), grants to voluntary organisations, and schemes for the education of ST girls in low-literacy districts.
• PM-JANMAN (Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan):
  • Launched on 15 November 2023 with an outlay of about ₹24,104 crore for three years.
  • 11 interventions by 9 ministries: pucca houses, roads, piped water, mobile medical units, Anganwadis, hostels, electricity, mobile towers, multipurpose centres, Van Dhan Vikas Kendras and skilling.
  • By December 2025, about 4.7 lakh houses had been sanctioned and 2.5 lakh completed, and 750 mobile medical units were running.
• Habitat rights under the Forest Rights Act protect a PVTG’s whole customary territory: land, forest, sacred sites and seasonal routes. Recognition remains slow outside a few States.
• State initiatives, such as Odisha’s Jiban Sampark project with UNICEF:
  • It builds awareness among PVTGs of welfare schemes, especially for women and children.
  • Its focus is skill development, community empowerment, cooperation and innovation.

Denotified Tribes and the Xaxa Committee

Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes

• Denotified tribes (DNTs) were communities listed under the Criminal Tribes Act, 1871 as “addicted to the systematic commission of non-bailable offences“.
  • They had to register with the local magistrate, and their movement was severely restricted.
• The Act was repealed in 1949 and the communities were “denotified” in 1952.
  • The Habitual Offenders Acts that followed kept the stigma alive. DNTs still face police suspicion, landlessness and poor access to services.
• Many DNTs are listed as STs, SCs or OBCs in different States; some are in no list at all.
• The Renke Commission (2008) and the Idate Commission (2015–18) examined their condition. The Idate Commission called for repeal of the Habitual Offenders Act and for a permanent commission.
• The SEED scheme (2022) offers DNTs coaching, health insurance, livelihoods and housing.

Xaxa Committee (2013–14)

• A High-Level Committee under Virginius Xaxa, set up by the Prime Minister’s Office in 2013, reported in May 2014 on the socio-economic, educational and health status of tribes.
• Five critical issues:
  • livelihood and employment;
  • education;
  • health;
  • involuntary displacement and migration;
  • legal and constitutional matters.
• Main findings:
  • Large spending since the First Plan has not closed the gaps in livelihood, education and health. This points to failures in delivery institutions.
  • Industry, mining, dams and roads in tribal areas have meant loss of livelihood, displacement and distress migration.
  • PESA (1996) and the Forest Rights Act (2006) changed the legal status of tribes, but policy and practice have been slow to absorb the change.
  • Land acquisition, food security, detention of tribal people, PVTGs and denotified tribes need special attention.