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Explore India’s tribal cultural heritage with the help of another interactive map >>

Use this map as an interactive guide to India’s tribal cultural heritage. There are 28 states and 8 Union territories in the country. Union Territories are administered by the President through an Administrator appointed by him/her. | Learn more >>

There are over 700 tribes (with overlapping communities in more than one State) which have been notified under Article 342 of the Constitution of India, spread over different States and Union Territories of the country. The largest number of main tribal communities (62) has been specified in relation to the State of Orissa. The Scheduled Tribes have been specified in relation to all the States and Union Territories except Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh, Delhi, and Pondicherry.

Source: National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, Government of India (Ministry of Tribal Affairs)
URL: https://www.ncst.gov.in/content/frequently-asked-questions
Date visited: 14 September 2021

There has been some changes in the List of Scheduled Tribes in States/ UTs during the last decade. 

Source: “Scheduled Tribes in India as revealed in Census 2011” by C. Chandramouli (Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India, Ministry of Home Affairs), 3 May 2013
Document: “23scheduledTribesIndiaRevealedInCensus2011EN20170503.pdf”
URL: https://ruralindiaonline.org/library/resource/scheduled-tribes-in-india-as-revealed-in-census-2011/
Date visited: 13 January 2022

Article 342 in the Constitution of India

  • Provides for specification of tribes or tribal communities or parts of or groups within tribes or tribal communities which are deemed to be for the purposes of the Constitution the Scheduled Tribes in relation to that State or Union Territory.
  • In pursuance of these provisions, the list of Scheduled Tribes are notified for each State or Union Territory and are valid only within the jurisdiction of that State or Union Territory and not outside.
  • Scheduled Tribes are notified in 30 States/UTs
  • Number of individual ethnic groups, etc. notified as Scheduled Tribes is 705
  • There has been some changes in the List of Scheduled Tribes in States/ UTs during the last decade

Source: “Article 342 Constitution of India”
URL: https://www.indianconstitution.in/2016/07/article-342-constitution-of-india.html
Date visited: 13 January 2022

Regions noted for their wealth of tribal heritage: culture & ecology

Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Bastar

Chotanagpur

Gadchiroli

Narmada

Nilgiri Biosphere

Seven Sister States & Sikkim

Wayanad

Western Ghats

Regional Zonal Cultural Centres

Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre, Kolkata
Eastern region – Eastern Zonal Council

North Central Zone Cultural Centre, Prayagraj
Uttar Pradesh

North East Zone Cultural Centre, Dimapur
Seven Sister States & Sikkim – North Eastern Council

North Zone Cultural Centre, Patiala
Northern region – Northern Zonal Council

South Central Zone Cultural Centre, Nagpur
Central region – Central Zonal Council

South Zone Cultural Centre, Thanjavur
Southern region – Southern Zonal Council

West Zone Cultural Centre, Udaipur
Western region –  Western Zonal Council

——————-

Up-to-date information: Zonal Cultural Centres >>

Zonal Cultural Centres: List of “Component States” allocated to each centre >>

Learn more about Jawaharlal Nehru’s “five principles” for the policy to be pursued vis-a-vis the tribals >>
Photo © Indian Express

ZONAL COUNCILS

The Zonal Councils were created vide Part-III of the States Re-Organisation Act, 1956 as a part of the scheme of the reorganisation of the States and matters connected therewith.

Section 15 of the States Reorgnization Act 1956 provides that there shall be a Zonal Council for each of the five zones of the country. The present composition of each Zonal Council is as under:

Northern Zonal Council, comprising the States of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh,  Punjab, Rajasthan, National Capital Territory of Delhi, Union Territory of Chandigarh, Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir and Union Territory of Ladakh.
Central Zonal Council, comprising the States of Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh;
Eastern Zonal Council, comprising the States of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal;
Western Zonal Council, comprising the States of Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra and the Union Territory of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and  Daman & Diu.
Southern Zonal Council, comprising the States of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and the Union Territory of Puducherry.

Source: Zonal Councils Genesis (“Page last updated on:13/02/2020”)
URL: http://interstatecouncil.nic.in/genesis/
Date visited: 3 April 2021

I. BACKGROUND

The idea of creation of Zonal Councils was mooted by the first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru in 1956 when during the course of debate on the report of the States Re-organisation Commission, he suggested that the States proposed to be reorganised may be grouped into four or five zones having an Advisory Council “to develop the habit of cooperative working” among these States. This suggestion was made by Pandit Nehru at a time when linguistic hostilities and bitterness as a result of re-organisation of the States on linguistic pattern were threatening the very fabric of our nation. As an antidote to this situation, it was suggested that a high level advisory forum should be set up to minimise the impact of these hostilities and to create healthy inter-State and Centre-State environment with a view to solving inter-State problems and fostering balanced socio economic development of the respective zones. […]

III. COMMITTEES OF ZONAL COUNCILS

Each Zonal Council has set up a Standing Committee consisting of Chief Secretaries of the member States of their respective Zonal Councils. These Standing Committees meet from time to time to scrutinize items/issues sponsored for consideration of Zonal Councils, resolve as many issues as possible at their level, and recommend important issues for consideration at the meetings of Zonal Councils. Senior Officers of the Planning Commission and other Central Ministries are also associated with the meetings of the Standing Committees depending upon necessity. […]

VI. FUNCTIONS OF THE COUNCILS

Each Zonal Council is an advisory body and may discuss any matter in which some or all of the States represented in that Council, or the Union and one or more of the States represented in that Council, have a common interest.

In particular, a Zonal Council may discuss, and make recommendations with regard to,-
• any matter of common interest in the field of economic and social planning;
• any matter concerning border disputes, linguistic minorities or inter-State
transport; and
• any matter connected with, or arising out of, the re-organisation of the States under the States Reorganisation Act. […]

Source: “Zonal Councils” (Government of India)
URL: https://www.mha.gov.in/sites/default/files/ZCS-CitiCharter-130710_0.pdf
Date visited: 3 April 2021

[Bold typeface added above for emphasis]

India is a secular state with a constitution committed to the unique demography, history and culture of each state and union territory – knowindia.gov.in >>

Explore India’s tribal cultural heritage with the help of another interactive map >>

Note

States and Union Territories do not generally account for persons with “tribal roots” unless they are home to people recognized as members of a  Scheduled Tribe (ST). Yet countless people with “tribal roots” live in metropolitan and touristic areas such as Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Goa, Kolkata, Mumbai. Their ranks include students, professionals, scientists and employees working for government agencies, educational institutions, banks or businesses.

Yet “much of rural to urban – or poor state to rich state – migration in India is distress migration“, particularly by vulnerable boys and girls – many among them working as live-in maids: “In some villages, there are no teenagers left behind – they have either been trafficked or left in pursuit of greener pastures.” | Rescue and rehabilitation measures for victims of human trafficking and child abuse >>

How many Scheduled Tribes have been identified so far?
There are over 700 tribes (with overlapping communities in more than one State) which have been notified under Article 342 of the Constitution of India, spread over different States and Union Territories of the country. The largest number of main tribal communities (62) has been specified in relation to the State of Orissa.  The Scheduled Tribes have been specified in relation to all the States and Union Territories except Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh, Delhi, and Pondicherry […]

Source: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS | National Commission for Scheduled Tribes
Address: https://www.ncst.gov.in/content/frequently-asked-questions
Date Visited: Mon Apr 10 2017 11:41:28 GMT+0200 (CEST)

Up-to-date reports by Indian journalists and commentators

To search Indian periodicals, magazines, web portals and other sources safely, click here. To find an Indian PhD thesis on a particular tribal community, region and related issues, click here >>

Search tips

Combine the name of any particular state, language or region with that of any tribal (Adivasi) community.

Add keywords of special interest (health, nutrition endangered language, illegal mining, sacred grove); learn about the rights of Scheduled Tribes such as the “Forest Rights Act” (FRA); and the United Nations “Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples”, “Universal Declaration of Human Rights”, “women’s rights”, or “children’s right to education”.

Specify any other issue or news item you want to learn more about (biodiversity, bonded labour and human trafficking, climate change, ecology, economic development, ethnobotany, ethnomedicine, global warming, Himalayan tribe, hunter-gatherers in a particular region or state, prevention of rural poverty, water access).

For official figures include “scheduled tribe ST” along with a union state or region: e.g. “Chhattisgarh ST community”, “Scheduled tribe Tamil Nadu census”, “ST Kerala census”, “Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group Jharkhand”, “PVTG Rajasthan”, “Adivasi ST Kerala”, “Adibasi ST West Bengal” etc.

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