Of the more than 700 tribal communities, there are 75 tribal communities marked as a particularly vulnerable tribal group (PVTG) based in 18 countries and the territory of Andaman and the Nicobar Islands. Photo for representation. | Photo Credit: Hind
The Ministry of the Tribal Affairs wrote the census and the Commissioner of the Census and urged that the particularly vulnerable tribal group (PVTG) be listed independently in the upcoming census.
In a letter of 17 July, Ajeet Kumar Srivastava, a common secretary of the Ministry of the Mistal Affairs, said it would do so to formulate and implement targeted social care programs, such as Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan).
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Of the more than 700 tribal communities, it is in 18 countries and the territory of Andaman and the Nicobar islands identified by 75 tribal communities.
The letter said that PVTG is one of the “most marginalized and socio -economically backward vulnerable part of our population” and emphasized that “accurate enumerations will certainly be a great support for the formulation and designing targeted schemes for PVTGs”.
The ministry stated that while the data on the planned tribes were collected during the People census in 2011, “the data independently for PVTGs were not collected” and demanded its integration into the upcoming list.
The letter demanded “appropriate measures to capture the number of households and individuals of PVTGS and their distinctive demographic, cultural and social -economic features” and proposed a meeting between the census officials and the ministry to discuss this process.
PM-Janman, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi 15 November 2023, is a scheme to improve the living conditions of 75 PVTG.
The program focuses on providing basic facilities such as housing, safe drinking water, education, health care and nutrition, along with better interconnection of roads and telecommunications, electricity for households that are still non -electrified and livelihood opportunities. The aim is to cover these needs within three years.
The diagram is performed through 11 specific interventions conducted jointly by nine central ministries. PVTG faces deep -rooted challenges.
The reviewed overview of 13 PVTGS in Odisha, analysis of studies published between 2000 and 2023, found that these communities suffer from higher health stress, low literacy, poor results of mothers and children and insufficient access to basic services.
Sociological research emphasizes that PVTG often inhabits distant, inaccessible regions, relies on existential economies, faces stagnant or declining populations, and have an extremely low level of literacy, all factors that strengthen their marginalization.
In the early 1960s, the Dhebar Commission first identified PVTGS (then called the “primitive tribal groups”) as particularly disadvantaged between the planned tribes due to pre-agricultural economies, stagnant populations and low literacy. This classification now includes 75 groups.
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Published – August 25, 2025 9:04
