Category Archives: Particularly vulnerable tribal group

“Are there any privileges or special rights for Scheduled Tribes? ‘Scheduled Tribes being backward and isolated from the rest of the population are not able to exercise their rights. In order to empower them to be able to exercise their rights special provisions have been made in the Constitution […] so that Scheduled Tribes can avail the opportunities and exercise their rights and safeguards.'” – National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
www.ncst.gov.in
http://indiantribalheritage.org/?page_id=22496

“Parliament may be law include in or exclude from the list of Scheduled Tribes […] Primitiveness, geographical isolation, shyness and social, educational & economic backwardness due to these reasons are the traits that distinguish Scheduled Tribe communities of our country from other communities. It takes into account the definitions of tribal Communities adopted in the 1931 Census. These facts are the basis for the provision in Article 342(1) which mandates to specify the tribes or tribal communities or part of or groups within tribes or tribal communities as Scheduled Tribe in relation to that State or Union Territory as the case may be. Thus the list of Scheduled Tribes is State/UT specific and a community declared as a Scheduled Tribe in a State need not be so in another State.” – National Commission for Scheduled Tribes
https://www.ncst.gov.in/content/frequently-asked-questions
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=21438

“The Dhebar commission (1960) and the Shilu Ao (1969) team recommended the Government of India that primitive tribal communities should be taken as a special category for which special programmes would have to be initiated as quickly as possible for their all-round development. [S]eventy five tribal groups have been categorised as ‘Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups’ (PVTG) in India. The main criteria adopted for identification of such tribe are: (i) Pre- agricultural level of technology, (ii) Very low level of literacy, and (iii) Stagnant or declining population. As these tribes are in a very poor state of economy, a separate special Central assistance is provided to the state for their development. Total primitive tribal population in India is 27, 68322 and in Kerala is 20,186 (2001 Census).” – Sujeesh in PhD thesis “Role of gender and social capital in sustainable livelihood promotion of Kadar tribe in Kerala” (M.K. The Gandhigram Rural Institute, 2014, Introduction, p. 4)
https://indiantribalheritage.org/?p=30463
http://hdl.handle.net/10603/186310