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Contents

• Introduction
• Government Initiatives
• Current Situation of PVTGs in India
• Conclusion / Way forward for PVTGs

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Introduction

• Particularly vulnerable tribal group (PVTG) (earlier: Primitive tribal group) is a government of India classification created with the purpose of enabling improvement in the conditions of certain communities with particularly low development indices.
• The Dhebar Commission (1960-1961) stated that within Scheduled Tribes there existed an inequality in the rate of development. In 1973, during the fourth Five Year Plan a  subcategory was created within Scheduled Tribes to identify groups that considered being at a lower level of development.
• Till now, 75 tribal groups have been categorized by Ministry of Home Affairs as PVTGs. They reside in 18 states and UT of A&N Islands.
• These groups are characterized by
  • A pre-agriculture level of technology
  • Stagnant and declining population
  • Extremely low literacy
  • Subsistence level of economy

Government Initiatives:

i. PM-PVTG Development Mission

• First announced in the 2023-24 budget, the scheme was launched by PM Modi in Nov 2023 from Jharkhand’s Khunti district on the occasion of tribal icon Birsa Munda’s birth anniversary and the third Janjatiya Gaurav Divas.
• It has a budgetary allocation of Rs 24,000 crores and is dedicated to the holistic development of all 75 PVTGs living in 22,000+ villages of 18 states and UTs..
• The objective of the scheme is to improve the socio-economic conditions of PVTGs by providing basic facilities like road and telecom connectivity, electricity, housing,  clean water, sanitation, improved education, healthcare, nutrition, and sustainable livelihood to PVTG families and habitations.
• This is an umbrella initiative under which 9 ministries will implement 11 interventions,
  including PMGSY, PMAY(G), Jal Jeevan Yojna etc.
  • Note: MoTA is the nodal ministry for overall policy planning and coordination.

ii. Scheme for Development of PVTGs

• It is a central sector scheme launched in 2008 by MoTA exclusively for PVTGs.
• Flexibility to state: Under the scheme, Conservation cum development (CCD)/Annual Plans are to be prepared by each state/UT for their PVTGs based on their need assessment, which are then appraised and approved by the Project  Appraisal committee of the Tribal Ministry.
• Activities for development are taken in the fields of education, health, livelihood and
  skill development, agriculture development, housing & habitat, conservation and culture etc.

Current Situation of PVTGs in India: Report by Anthropological Survey of India (AnSI) about PVTGs (April, 2017)

• Report: The Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups of India – Privileges and Predicaments
• Key Findings

a. Baseline surveys exists for only 40 groups out of 75 PVTGs -> displays government’s apathy towards PVTGs

• • Baseline surveys are done to precisely identify PVTG families, their habitat and socio-economic status, so that development initiatives are implemented for these communities, based on the facts and figures.

b. Regional and state specific variations in welfare schemes for PVTGs

• • For instance, Odisha has established exclusive micro-projects for PVTGs, there are none such in for the five PVTGs in Gujarat.
  • Unequal treatment in same state: In some cases, a PVTG receives benefits only in a few blocks in a district, while the same group is deprived in adjacent blocks. The reason is that micro-projects extend benefits only within their jurisdiction.

c. State wise distribution

• • Among the 75 listed PVTGs the highest number are found in Odisha (13).
  • Other states
    • Bihar including Jharkhand (9), MP including Chhattisgarh (7), Tamil Nadu (6), Kerala (5), Gujarat (5), WB (3), MHA (3), Kar (2), UK (2), Rajasthan (1), Tripura (1), Manipur (1).
    • All four Tribal groups in Andaman and 1 in Nicobar Islands are recognized as PVTGs.

d. Huge Variation in the number of PVTGs

• • A few individuals as in case of Great Andamanese (57), Onge(107) and Sentinelese (around 50)  to more than 4 lakh population of Sahariyas in MP and Rajasthan.

e. Literacy rate going up

• • Literacy rate has gone up significantly over the past.
  • From a single digit, the literacy rate has gone upto 30-40% in some PVTGs.
  • Female literacy rate is still considerably lower compared to male counterparts.

f. Considerable increase in age of marriage among PVTGs

• • The incidence of girl child being married while still being a minor, among these tribes have been decreasing.

Recommendations of the report

a. Urgently conduct baseline surveys

• • State governments should urgently conduct baseline surveys of the PVTGs to arrive at accurate demographic and socio-economic figures of the PVTGs.

b. Revise and refine PVTG list to avoid overlapping and repetition.

• • For instance, the list contains the synonyms of the same group such as the Mankidia and the Birhor in Odisha, both of which refers to the same group.
  • Some of the PVTGs are counted in more than 1 states, and the report suggests that the total number of PVTGs should be 63.

Conclusion / Way forward for PVTGs

• Better identification of Problems:
  • Implement the recommendations of AnSI and PM-PVTG Mission effectively.
• Common Development Agency to focus on PVTGs in case of inter-state distribution of the group.
• Customized development Plans for PVTGs, considering their distinct cultural practices, traditional knowledge etc.
•  Critical time bound monitoring and evaluation of various projects and schemes is important forthe economic upliftment of PVTGs.
• Bottom-up approach rather than existing top down approach for their development -> empowering local bodies to ensure better focus on PVTGs.

Conclusion:

• Effective implementation schemes like PM-PVTG mission to the unique need of PVTG can contribute significantly to the overall development and welfare of PVTGs.

Example Questions

1. Who are Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)? Throw some light on the socio-economic condition of these groups.

2. Discuss the main limitations of the government schemes focusing on PVTGs. Suggest a few remedies to deal with these limitations.