People of India project
Topic: India, That Is Bharat: Names of India and Unity in Diversity · NCERT: Class 6, Ch 8 "Unity in Diversity, or 'Many in the One'"
Meaning
The People of India project was a large national survey by the Anthropological Survey of India. It began in 1985 under the anthropologist K.S. Singh. It studied 4,635 communities across all States and counted 325 languages written in 25 scripts. It found that many Indians are internal migrants, living away from their birthplace or community. It also found many shared traditions running through this diversity. This makes it key evidence for unity in diversity, the idea that one shared culture runs through India's many differences.
Example
The survey found that many communities keep their own local versions of the epics. K.S. Singh wrote: "There is hardly a place in the country which the epic heroes such as the Pandavas did not visit according to folklores." For example, the Irula tribals of the Nilgiris (Tamil Nadu) look after a 'Pañcha Pāṇḍavar' stone shrine.
Don't confuse with
- Census of India: this counts every person every ten years. The People of India project studied communities: their customs, languages and links with one another.