The Tribal Affairs Ministry on December 7 insisted in the Rajya Sabha that the population of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) was not in decline, citing information provided by the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India (ORGI).
State-wise Census data provided by the Ministry to a Parliamentary panel last year, however, clearly shows that these tribal groups saw their numbers fall almost 40% in at least nine States and Union Territories in the first decade of this century.
In his question in the Rajya Sabha, BJP MP Rakesh Sinha had sought details about why the population of PVTGs were declining consistently, and what the government was doing to protect their culture and identity.
‘ORGI data shows no decline’
In his response, Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda said: “As the enumeration of tribes other than STs has not been done separately in any of the decadal Censuses since the 1951 Census, the population figure/trend for the PVTGs communities as a whole is not available centrally. However, information, as provided by the Office of Registrar General of India, on the State-wise decadal population for PVTGs does not show a decreasing population of these tribes.”
The Minister added that there was no available data on the population of children aged zero to 12 years within PVTG populations, responding to another part of Mr. Sinha’s question. His statement also listed the Ministry’s schemes that help preserve the identity and culture of these vulnerable communities.
7 lakh drop in 9 States
However, the Tribal Affairs Ministry itself had provided State-wise Census data to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment, showing that, between 2001 and 2011, PVTG populations had declined in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh (which includes the current State of Telangana as well), Bihar, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, and the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. In 2001, the PVTG population in these States and UTs was 17,11,669; by 2011, this had dropped 38.5% to 10,53,263.
The Ministry’s own public documents on PVTGs — including its Annual Report for 2022-23 — also define them as communities that have either declining or stagnant populations, among other criteria like economic backwardness, low literacy, and use of pre-agricultural level of technology.
97% decline in WB
According to the State-wise Census data on the Ministry’s website, the PVTG population in West Bengal was almost wiped out between 2001 and 2011, recording a 97% decline. Gujarat reported a 62% fall in PVTG populations. The data for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana together showed a 47% drop, while Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh together saw a 32% decline in PVTG population. Jharkhand’s PVTG population fell 24.5%, while the Andaman and Nicobar Islands saw a relatively low decline of 5.7%.
States that reported an increase in their PVTG populations in this time period were Karnataka, Kerala, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. However, the percentage of increase was only in the range of 0.22% (Odisha) to 25.4% (Kerala).
While the 2001 Census also provided figures for the PVTG populations in Maharashtra (4.08 lakh), Manipur (1,225), and Rajasthan (76,237), the 2011 Census data provided by the Ministry to the House panel reported PVTG populations for these States as “NIL”.
Of the 75 PVTG communities in the country, 38 are found in the States of Madhya Pradesh (including Chhattisgarh), Andhra Pradesh (including Telangana), Maharashtra, Jharkhand, and Tamil Nadu.
‘Current data being verified’
Adding up the State-wise figures, the 2001 Census recorded a PVTG population of 27,68,322 people, though the comparable figure is not available for 2011. When he launched a ₹24,000 crore package for PVTGs last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had estimated the PVTG population at “around 28 lakh”.
Though the 2021 Census is yet to be conducted, the Ministry told the House panel last year that it was in the process of verifying current PVTG population data with State and UT governments, in order to frame better policies for these communities.
The Ministry of Tribal Affairs has not yet responded to queries from The Hindu on why it told the Rajya Sabha that that there was no decline in PVTG populations.
Meanwhile, in response to a separate question in the Rajya Sabha, the government said that it has no plans to conduct any sort of caste census for the enumeration of nomadic tribes and their populations in the country.
