A particularly vulnerable tribal group or PVTG (previously known as a primitive tribal group), in the context of India, is a sub-classification of Scheduled Tribe or section of a Scheduled Tribe, that is considered more vulnerable than a regular Scheduled Tribe. The PVTG list was created by the Indian Government with the purpose of better improving the living standards of endangered tribal groups based on priority. PVTGs reside in 18 states and one union territory.
Origin of the concept The Dhebar Commission (1960-1961) found that within the Scheduled Tribe classification an inequality existed in the rate of development of certain tribes over others. As a result, in the fourth Five-Year Plan the sub-category "Primitive tribal group" was created within the grouping of Scheduled Tribe to identify groups considered to be especially lacking in modern development. The features of such a group include a pre-agricultural system of existence, that is practice of hunting and gathering, zero or negative population growth, and extremely low levels of literacy in comparison with other tribal groups.
Groups that satisfied any of the criteria were considered to be a Primitive Tribal Group. At the conclusion of the Fifth Five-Year Plan, 52 communities were identified as "primitive tribal group" based on recommendations made by Indian state governments. At the conclusion of the Sixth Five-Year Plan 20 additional groups were added and 2 more were added in the Seventh Five-Year Plan and finally one more group was added in the eighth five-year plan, for a total 75 groups were identified as Primitive Tribal Group. The 75th group recognised as PTG were the Maram in Manipur in 1993–94. No new group was declared as PTG on the basis of the 2001 census.
In 2006 the government of India changed the name of "Primitive tribal group" to "Particularly vulnerable tribal group" PTG has since been renamed Particularly vulnerable tribal group by the government of India.
Other issues Until 2018 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups were not allowed contraceptive use by the Indian Government because of their often declining or stagnant population growth. Based on the assumption that allowing them to use contraception would hamper efforts to increase the size of their populations. However in 2018 the High Court of Chhattisgarh in a Public Interest Litigation found this to be a violation of their right to privacy and ruled that they had the right to contraceptives. The PVTG of Chhattisgarh got these rights amidst concerns of family planning amongst many of them particularly the Baigas.
List Source: Sl. No. Name of PVTG Notified State Population (2011) 1 Chenchu Andhra Pradesh and Telangana 64227 2 Bodo Gadaba 38081 3 Gutob Gadaba 4 Dongria Khond 103290 5 Kultia Khond 6 Kolam 44912 7 Konda Reddi 107747 8 Kondasavara 139424 9 Bondo Porja - 10 Khond Porja - 11 Parengi Proja 36502 12 Thoti 4811 13 Asur Bihar Jharkhand 4129 14 Birhor 377 15 Birjia 208 16 Hill Kharia 11569 17 Korwa 452 18 Mal Paharia 2225 19 Parhaiya 647 20 Sauria Paharia 1932 21 Savar 80 22 Kolgha Gujarat 67119 23 Kathodi 13632 24 Kotwalia 24249 25 Padhar 30932 26 Siddi 8661 27 Jenu Kuruba Karnataka 36076 28 Koraga 14794 29 Cholanaikayan Kerala 124 30 Kadar 2949 31 Kattunayakan 18199 32 Koraga 1582 33 Kurumba 2586 34 Abujh Maria Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh 5093124 35 Baiga 414526 36 Bharia 193230 37 Birhor 52 38 Hill Korwa - 39 Kamar 666 40 Sahariya 165 41 Katkari/ Kathodi 285334 42 Kolam 194671 43 Maria Gond 1618090 44 Maram Naga Manipur 27524 45 Chuktia Bhunjia Odisha 2378 46 Birhor 596 47 Bondo 12231 48 Didayi 8890 49Dongria Khond 6306 50 Juang 47095 51 Kharia 222844 52 Kutia Khond 7232 53 Lanjia Saura 5960 54 Lodha 9785 55 Mankirdia 2222 56 Paudi Bhuya 5788 57 Saura 534751 58 Saharia Rajasthan 111377 59 Irular Tamil Nadu 189661 60 Kattunayakan 46672 61 Kota 308 62 Korumba 6823 63 Paniyan 10134 64 Toda 2002 65 Raing Tripura 188220 66 Buksa Uttar Pradesh and Uttrakhand 4710 67 Raji 2241 68 Birhor West Bengal 2241 69 Lodha 108707 70 Toto 66627 71 Great Andamanese Andaman & Nicobar Islands 44 72 Jarawa 380 73 Onge 101 74 Sentinelese 15 75 Shompen 229
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