Who are PVTGs?

• Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (earlier Primitive tribal group) is a government of India classification created with the purpose of enabling improvement in the conditions of certain communities with particularly low development indices.
• This was created based on the Dhebar Commission report, 1973, which stated that within Scheduled Tribes there existed an inequality in the rate of development.
• PVTGs are more vulnerable among the tribal groups.
• PVTGs have some basic characteristics -they are mostly homogenous, with a small population, relatively physically isolated, social institutes cast in a simple mould, absence of written language, relatively simple technology and a slower rate of change etc.
• 75 tribal groups have been categorized by the Ministry of Home Affairs as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG)s. 
• PVTGs reside in 18 States and UT of A&N Islands. 
• The Ministry of Tribal Affairs implements the Scheme of “Development of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)” exclusively for them.
• The scheme aims at planning their socio-economic development in a comprehensive manner while retaining the culture and heritage of the communities by adopting a habitat level development approach. 

How are they identified?

• The Government of India designed a procedure to identify PVTGs. 
• According to the procedure, the state governments or UT governments submit proposals to the Central Ministry of Tribal Welfare for identification of PVTGs. 
• After ensuring the criteria is fulfilled, the Central Ministry selects those groups as PVTGs.
• The criteria for identifying Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups are: –

1. 1. Pre-agricultural level of technology,
   2. Low level of literacy,
   3. Economic backwardness,
   4. A declining or stagnant population.

Statewise PVTGs

Why in News?

• The COVID-19 pandemic has reached the Bondas (or Bondos), a tribal community residing in the hill ranges of Malkangiri district in Odisha. 
• Four members of the community have tested positive for COVID-19. 

More in News

• Bondas, a particularly vulnerable tribal group (PVTG), live in settlements comprising small hutments in the hills of the Khairaput block. 
• Their population is around 7,000.
• There are around 20 blocks where 13 PVTGs have sizable populations in Odisha. 
• None of the blocks have been spared by the pandemic.
• Cases have been reported among Dongria Kondh tribal populations of the Rayagada district, Paudi Bhuyans, Sauras and Lanjiasauras.
• The government has translated COVID-19 awareness leaflets in 10 tribal languages to ensure that they are effectively utilised in the villages.

Tribal groups of Odisha

• Odisha is home to 62 tribal communities — the largest diverse groups of tribal population in India. Thirteen of them are PVTGs. 
• Tribal populations are found in the entire seven districts of Kandhamal, Mayurbhanj, Sundargarh, Nabarangpur, Koraput, Malkanagiri and Rayagada, and in parts of six other districts. 

Reference:

1. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/virus-breaches-another-wall-four-bondas-test-positive/article32432563.ece
2. https://vikaspedia.in/social-welfare/scheduled-tribes-welfare/primitive-vulnerable-tribal-groups