PVTGs

PVTGs

Subjects: Geography

Context: Anthropological Survey of India builds tribal hut replicas to promote unique heritage

Jarawa tribe –

The Jarawas (Jarawa: Aong, pronounced are an indigenous people of the Andaman Islands in India. They live in parts of South Andaman and Middle Andaman Islands, and their present numbers are estimated at between 250–400 individuals. They have largely shunned interaction with outsiders, and many particulars of their society, culture and traditions are poorly understood. They remain vulnerable to outside diseases to which they have little or no immunity.

Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)

During the Fourth Five Year Plan,  asub-category was created within Scheduled Tribes to identify the most vulnerable groups which were considered to be at the lowest levels of development. Consequently, on the basis of the Dhebar Commission report, a criterion for identifying Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups was established as:

• Pre-agricultural level of technology,
• Low level of literacy,
• Economic backwardness,
• A declining or stagnant population.

PVTGs were formerly known as primitive tribal groups.

How many particularly vulnerable tribal groups are there?

As per Census 2011, there are a total of 75 PVTGs out of 705 Scheduled Tribes, spread over 17 states and one Union Territory (UT).

The categorization is done by the Ministry of Home Affairs and not by the Ministry of Tribal affairs.

As per census 2001:

• There are 12 PVTGs having a population above 50,000.
• The remaining groups have a population of 1000 or less.
• The PVTG of Sahariyas has the highest population of 4,50,217.
• PVTGs of Sentinelese and Andamanese have a very small population of 39 and 43, respectively.
• Odisha has the highest number of PVTGs in India while no PVTGs are found in the states of Punjab and Haryana.

PVTG  of Andaman and nicobar islands – Great Andamanese, Jarawas, Onges, Sentinelese, Shorn Pens/ Shompen

Tribal culture and traditions

the traditional Jarawa hut, is called a chadda,

The Shompen hut contains a store of a paste made using the pandamus fruit which members of the tribe eat when there is shortage of food.

Dorla tribal community

a Dorla tribal community’s home at Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh. – Dorla, also called Dora are a tribal people community found mainly in Bastar area of central India. They are mainly found in Dantewada and Bijapur districts of present-day Chhattisgarh state.

They usually undertake agricultural activities and live simply in forested areas and mostly illiterate and have a strong belief in supernatural powers and witchcraft. They also worship native gods or goddess like Mutta-lamma, Gangamma, Gaman, Kiror etc. and follow Hindu tradition. They speak Dorli or Dorla language, which is a Dravidian language and a dialect of Koya language.

Betta Kuruba tribal community –

The Betta Kuruba (Betta meaning ‘Hill’, Kuruba meaning ‘shepherd’) tribe lives in the hilly regions of Karnataka and is one of the few indigenous communities of the Nilgiris.

• Kurumbas are the least civilized group in the district and they mostly live in the hill slopes and feverish places. ( Alu Kurumba, Jenu Kurumba, Betta Kurumba, Urali Kurumba and Mullu Kurumba).
• They are the various groups are generally believed to be the descendants of the Pallavas whose rule was at its grandest in the 7th century A.D Losing power to the Kongus and the Chalukyas, the Pallavas were finally driven out and dispersed by the Chola king
• They settled in scattered settlements in the Nilgiris and Wayanad, Coorg and Mysore.
• It is the Kurumas of the Nilgiris whom we say the
• In many ethnographic accounts on the tribe, the numbers vary from as few as three to as many as seven.

Khasi  –

The Khasi people are an ethnic group of Meghalaya in north-eastern India with a significant population in the bordering state of Assam, and in certain parts of Bangladesh. The Khasi people form the majority of the population of the eastern part of Meghalaya, that is Khasi Hills, constituting 78.3% of the region’s population, and is the state’s largest community, with around 48% of the population of Meghalaya. They are among the few Austroasiatic-speaking peoples in South Asia. A cultural tradition of the Khasi people is that they follow the matrilineal system

Mawbynna or Mawnam’ –

A memorial-stone, or monolith, of the kind found in Nartiang, Jaintia Hills; believed to have been erected by Khasi forefathers in the past to mark significant events, of historical-mythic importance to the Khasi-Jaintias

Anthropological Survey of India (AnSI)

Anthropological Survey of India (AnSI) is the apex Indian government organisation involved in anthropological studies and field data research for human and cultural aspects, working primarily in the fields of physical anthropology and cultural anthropology.

Anthropological Research in India was founded1945 in Varanasi and shifted to the Indian Museum at Calcutta in 1948.