Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups

Also called: PVTGs · Topic: Safeguards for Vulnerable Sections: SCs, STs, OBCs, Minorities, Women and Children · NCERT: Class 9, Ch 7 "Elections"

Meaning

Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) are the most backward communities within the Scheduled Tribes. India has 75 such groups, living in 18 states and one Union territory, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands [2]. They were first named Primitive Tribal Groups (PTGs) in 1975.

PVTGs matter because quotas and general ST schemes often do not reach them. Stronger ST groups tend to take most of those benefits. So the State picks out PVTGs for special, targeted help, such as PM-JANMAN (2023).

Explanation

How the category came about

• Dhebar Commission (1960-61): this was the first commission under Art. 339 (a commission on Scheduled Areas and the welfare of STs).
• It found big gaps in development among the STs themselves.
• Some tribes were far behind other tribes.

• This finding later led to a separate category for the weakest tribes.

• 1975: the Government identified 52 groups as Primitive Tribal Groups (PTGs).

• 2006: the name changed to Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs). The word "primitive" was seen as insulting.
• Today: there are 75 PVTGs in 18 states and one UT (Andaman and Nicobar Islands) [2].

The four tests for a PVTG

A tribal group is marked as a PVTG if it shows these features:

1. Pre-agricultural technology: the group lives by hunting, gathering food from forests, or shifting cultivation (clearing a patch of forest, farming it for a while, then moving on).
2. Low literacy: very few people can read and write.
3. Economic backwardness: very low income and few assets.
4. Stagnant or falling population: the group is not growing, or is getting smaller. This puts its survival at risk.

Conditions and limits

• A PVTG is always an ST first. The group must already be on the ST list under Art. 342. PVTG is a smaller group inside that list.
• It is not a constitutional category. The Constitution never uses the word "PVTG". The category was made by the Union Government through executive action (a government decision, not a law or an amendment).
• No separate quota. PVTGs share the ST reservation in jobs, education and legislatures. Their extra help comes from schemes and budgets, not from a separate reserved share.

In the Constitution and practice

• Art. 342: the President notifies the ST list for each state or UT, after consulting the Governor. After that, only a law of Parliament can add or remove a group (Art. 342(2)). PVTGs are chosen from inside this list.
• Art. 46: a Directive Principle (a goal the State must follow when making policy, though courts cannot enforce it). It tells the State to promote the education and economic interests of STs and protect them from exploitation. PVTG schemes put this duty into practice.
• Art. 275(1), first proviso: the Centre gives grants-in-aid (money from the Consolidated Fund of India) to states for ST welfare schemes. This money can pay for PVTG programmes.
• Art. 339: the Dhebar Commission (1960-61) worked under this article. Its findings led to the PTG category. Art. 339(2) also lets the Union direct a state to plan and carry out ST welfare schemes.
• Tribal Sub-Plan (from 1974-75, Fifth Five-Year Plan): development money for STs is kept under a separate budget head so it cannot be moved elsewhere. It now runs as the Development Action Plan for STs (DAPST). The first PTG list (1975) came in this same planning period.
• PM-JANMAN (Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan):
• Launch: by the Prime Minister on 15 November 2023, which is Janjatiya Gaurav Divas (the birth anniversary of Birsa Munda) [2].
• Aim: to bring housing, roads, piped water, health, education and livelihoods to PVTG habitations.
• Outlay: ₹24,104 crore. The Centre pays ₹15,336 crore and the states pay ₹8,768 crore [2].

• Delivery: 11 interventions run by 9 line ministries, including Rural Development, School Education, Women and Child Development, and Drinking Water and Sanitation [2].

• Xaxa Committee (2014): it found that STs keep losing land to outsiders (land alienation) and are pushed out by dams, mines and industries (displacement). It also found STs far behind others in health and education. PVTGs, being the weakest, suffer these problems most.

Don't confuse with

• Scheduled Tribes (STs): STs are a constitutional category under Art. 342, judged by the Lokur Committee's (1965) five tests (primitive traits, distinct culture, geographical isolation, shyness of contact, backwardness). PVTGs are an executive sub-group within STs, judged by four different tests (pre-agricultural technology, low literacy, economic backwardness, stagnant or falling population).
• Primitive Tribal Groups (PTGs): this is the same category under its old name. There were 52 PTGs in 1975, renamed PVTGs in 2006, and today there are 75 [2].
• Denotified tribes (DNTs): these communities were branded "criminal" under the Criminal Tribes Act, 1871 and denotified in 1952. DNTs are defined by that colonial stigma and may sit on the SC, ST or OBC lists, or on none. PVTGs are always STs and are defined by extreme backwardness. DNTs have their own scheme, SEED (2022) [3].
• Scheduled Areas (Fifth Schedule, Art. 244): a Scheduled Area is a territory with special rules for how it is run. A PVTG is a group of people, wherever its members live.

Prelims Hooks

• PTG → PVTG: 52 groups identified in 1975 and renamed in 2006. Today there are 75 PVTGs in 18 states + 1 UT (Andaman and Nicobar Islands) [2].
• Four PVTG tests: pre-agricultural technology, low literacy, economic backwardness, stagnant or falling population. Trap: "geographical isolation", "distinct culture" and "shyness of contact" are Lokur (ST) tests, not PVTG tests.
• Trap: "PVTG" does not appear in the Constitution. It is an executive category within STs notified under Art. 342.
• PM-JANMAN: launched 15 Nov 2023 (Janjatiya Gaurav Divas, Birsa Munda's birth anniversary). Outlay ₹24,104 crore (Centre ₹15,336 crore + states ₹8,768 crore), 11 interventions, 9 line ministries [2].
• Dhebar Commission (1960-61): the first commission under Art. 339. It noticed gaps in development among STs, and this led to the PTG category.
• Only UT with PVTGs: the Andaman and Nicobar Islands [2].

Mains Points

• Targeting within targeting:
• Stronger ST groups capture most ST quotas and schemes, so the weakest tribes are left behind.
• The PVTG category, and now PM-JANMAN, sends help straight to the worst-off.
• This matches the reasoning behind the 2024 case for sub-classification within SCs (State of Punjab v. Davinder Singh).

• Challenge: PM-JANMAN spreads its 11 interventions over 9 ministries [2]. Without close coordination, work can overlap or slip through gaps.

• Outdated tests and process:

• Some PVTG tests carry the colonial idea of "primitive" peoples. Like the Lokur tests, they need review.
• Groups whose population is falling need urgent, health-first help, not only roads and housing.

• Reform: clear, evidence-based tests, a regular review of the list, and an open process run through the NCST.

• Schemes alone are not enough:

• The Xaxa Committee (2014) showed that land alienation and displacement continue.
• Way forward: strictly enforce PESA (1996) and the Forest Rights Act (2006), keep DAPST money ring-fenced, and respect PVTG ways of life when planning development.

Related concepts

• Scheduled Castes
• Scheduled Tribes
• Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order 1950
• K.G. Balakrishnan Commission
• Lokur Committee (1965)
• Commission on Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes
• PM-JANMAN
• Tribal Sub-Plan
• Xaxa Committee (2014)
• Denotified tribes

Read more

• Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes: identification and constitutional safeguards