The framers of the Constitution took note of the fact that certain communities in the country were suffering from extreme social, educational and economic backwardness on account of the primitive agricultural practices, lack of infrastructure facilities and geographical isolation. The Constitution of India in Article 366 (25) prescribe that the Scheduled Tribes means such tribes or tribal communities as are deemed under Article 342 of the Constitution to be 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. | Learn more >>
Whether “tribal” is preferred over Adivasi (Adibasi) depends on local conventions, official usage and historical context; see also Classifications in different states and Who are Scheduled Tribes? >>
“We shall first have to give up this hubris of considering tribes backward. Every tribe has a rich and living cultural tradition and we must respect them.”
Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on India’s Constitutional obligation to respect their cultural traditions

Gandhian social movement | Constitution >>
“Air is free to all but if it is polluted it harms our health… Next comes water… From now on we must take up the effort to secure water. Councillors are servants of the people and we have a right to question them.” – Mohandas K. Gandhi, Ahmedabad address on 1 January 1918; quoted by his grandson, Gopalkrishna Gandhi, in “On another New Year’s Day: Mahatma Gandhi’s ‘khorak’ a 100 years ago” (The Hindu, 1 January 2018)
India, a union of states, is a Sovereign, Secular, Democratic Republic with a Parliamentary system of Government | Learn more >>

To an administrator, the term ‘tribe’ means a group of citizens who are the special responsibility of the President of India | Learn more >>
Related posts
- Accountability | Constitution and Supreme Court | Democracy
- Adivasi (Adibasi) | Scheduled Tribes (ST) | Classifications in different states | Tribal Research Institutes
- Adverse inclusion | Casteism | Imprisonment | Social conventions
- Ambedkar | He who does not lead his life under the direction of others … is a free man
- Anthropology | Anthropological Survey of India (AnSI)
- Biodiversity | Hyderabad biodiversity pledge
- Childhood | Childrens rights: UNICEF India | Safe search
- Climate change
- Colonial policies | Denotified Tribe vs. “criminal tribe“
- eBooks, eJournals & reports
- eBook | Background guide for education
- eBook | Demographic Status of Scheduled Tribe Population of India (Census figures 2011)
- Education and literacy
- Ekalavya and Drona shape collective expectations from a teacher and a student
- eLearning | “National development and the development of tribal communities are linked to each other”: Droupadi Murmu – 15th President of India
- Fact checking | Figures, census and other statistics
- Gandhian social movement
- Health and nutrition | Recommendations by the Expert Committee
- History | Misconceptions
- How many ‘Scheduled Tribes’ are there in India? | Latest list (ST): tribal.nic.in (Govt. of India)
- Jaipal Singh Munda
- Learn more about India’s 28 States and 8 Union Territories: Information provided by the Government of India
- National Commission for Scheduled Tribes
- News update in Indian periodicals: Tribal Affairs
- Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes | SEED – Government scheme
- Particularly vulnerable tribal group (PVTG)
- Regions of India
- Rights of Indigenous Peoples
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