Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups

Also called: PVTG · Topic: Population of India: Distribution, Density, Growth and Composition · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) are the most isolated and weakest tribal communities in India. They form a smaller group within the Scheduled Tribes and have four features: pre-agricultural technology, very low literacy, a population that is stagnant or falling, and a subsistence economy.

They matter because general tribal schemes often do not reach them. Some of them, like the Shompen of Great Nicobar, are now in the news because of large development projects.

Explanation

How PVTGs fit inside the Scheduled Tribes

• Scheduled Tribes (STs) are tribal communities that the President notifies under the Constitution for special protection. Each state has its own list.
• There are more than 705 distinct ST groups. Together they make up 8.6% of India's population (Census 2011) [3].
• PVTGs are a small group within the STs. They are the STs that are worst off and most cut off from the rest of society.
• They were earlier called Primitive Tribal Groups (PTGs).

The four features that identify a PVTG

• Pre-agricultural technology
• They hunt, gather food, or practise very simple shifting farming (clearing a forest patch, farming it for a few years, then moving on).

• They use only basic tools.

• Very low literacy

• Very few people can read and write.

• Stagnant or falling population

• Their numbers are not growing, and some groups are shrinking.

• A small group can disappear if disease, land loss or outside contact hits it.

• Subsistence economy

• They grow or gather only enough to live on.
• Nothing is left over to sell.

Why they stayed so isolated

• Their land was hard to reach.
• They live in thick forests, steep hills and remote islands.

• Farming settlers and cities did not spread into these areas.

• So their old way of life continued.

• They kept their land, language and customs.

• They also missed out on schools, health care and roads.

• Result: they are culturally rich but very fragile. Even small changes to their forest, or new contact with outsiders, can harm them.

Size of the PVTG population

• There are 75 PVTGs in 18 States and 1 UT (Andaman and Nicobar Islands) [2][1].
• They live in 22,544 villages across 220 districts, with a population of about 28 lakh [1].
• Odisha has the most PVTGs (13).

Where it occurs

India: PVTG examples and their homes

PVTG	State / UT	Location / note
Jarawa	Andaman and Nicobar	South and Middle Andaman; protected by the Jarawa Policy, 2004 [4]
Onge	Andaman and Nicobar	Little Andaman
Sentinelese	Andaman and Nicobar	North Sentinel Island; have no contact with outsiders
Great Andamanese	Andaman and Nicobar	Very small population
Shompen	Andaman and Nicobar	Great Nicobar Island; protected by the Shompen Policy, 2015 [4]
Bondo	Odisha	Hills of Malkangiri
Dongria Kondh	Odisha	Niyamgiri hills
Baiga	Madhya Pradesh	Central tribal belt
Toda	Tamil Nadu	Nilgiris; pastoral people (they live by herding animals) who herd buffaloes

• Andaman and Nicobar Islands is the only UT with PVTGs. It has five of the best-known groups, including the most isolated ones.
• Central tribal belt: groups such as the Bondo, Dongria Kondh and Baiga live in the forested plateaus and hills of Odisha and Madhya Pradesh.

Scheme: PM-JANMAN (Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan)

• Launched: 15 November 2023, on Janjatiya Gaurav Divas, at Khunti, Jharkhand [1].
• Covers: all 75 PVTGs in 18 States and 1 UT [1].
• Run through: 11 interventions by 9 ministries, with a total budget of ₹24,104 crore [1].
• Provides:
• safe houses, clean drinking water, education and health care
• road and telecom links, and electricity
• jobs and income, including Van Dhan Vikas Kendras (centres that help PVTGs collect, process and sell forest products) [1]

Current case: Great Nicobar Island Development Project

• Government position:
• The Shompen and the Nicobarese will not be displaced [4].
• The only tribal settlements inside the project area are at New Chingen and Rajiv Nagar, and no relocation is planned [4].

• The MoEFCC has ordered an independent monitoring committee to watch over these communities [4].

• Who was consulted: the Anthropological Survey of India, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and the Andaman Adim Janjati Vikas Samiti (AAJVS) [4].

Don't confuse with

• Scheduled Tribes (STs): STs are the wide group, with more than 705 communities and 8.6% of India's population [3]. PVTGs are only 75 of the weakest groups within them [2].
• States with the highest tribal share (Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya, over 85% tribal): a high share of tribal people in a state does not mean it has the most PVTGs. Odisha has the most PVTGs (13).
• Sentinelese vs Shompen: the Sentinelese live on North Sentinel Island and have no contact with outsiders. The Shompen live on Great Nicobar Island, where the development project is planned.
• Jarawa Policy (2004) vs Shompen Policy (2015): the Jarawa policy is older and covers South and Middle Andaman. The Shompen policy covers Great Nicobar [4].

Prelims Hooks

• 75 PVTGs in 18 States and 1 UT. The only UT is the Andaman and Nicobar Islands [2][1].
• Odisha has the most PVTGs (13).
• PVTG–place pairs: Toda–Nilgiris (Tamil Nadu); Dongria Kondh–Niyamgiri hills (Odisha); Bondo–Malkangiri (Odisha); Onge–Little Andaman; Shompen–Great Nicobar; Baiga–Madhya Pradesh.
• The four criteria: pre-agricultural technology, very low literacy, stagnant or falling population, subsistence economy. A growing population is NOT a criterion, which makes it a common trap.
• PM-JANMAN: launched 15 November 2023 at Khunti, Jharkhand; ₹24,104 crore; 11 interventions; 9 ministries [1].
• PVTG population: about 28 lakh, in 22,544 villages across 220 districts [1].

Mains Points

• Why PVTGs need targeted help:
• Their population is stagnant, literacy is very low and they live by subsistence.
• Broad tribal schemes do not reach their scattered, remote villages.

• So habitation-level schemes like PM-JANMAN (help planned for each settlement) were created [1]. How well PVTGs survive is a test of inclusive development (GS-I).

• Development versus protection:

• The Great Nicobar project shows the tension between strategic infrastructure and the rights of a tiny hunter-gatherer group like the Shompen.
• The government relies on the Shompen Policy (2015), the Jarawa Policy (2004) and an independent monitoring committee [4].

• A balanced answer weighs these safeguards against the risk of forest loss and outside contact for a very small, fragile population (GS-III).

• Land, resources and tribal survival:

• PVTGs such as the Dongria Kondh and Bondo live in the forested, mineral-rich central tribal belt.
• Mining, dams and forest loss there can cause displacement and loss of livelihood.
• So protecting PVTGs is closely linked to how land and resources are used.

Related concepts

• Religious composition of India
• Distribution of Scheduled Tribes

Read more

• Religious composition and Scheduled Tribes