Pradhan Mantri PVTG Development Mission

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In order to improve socio-economic conditions of the particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs), the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that the Pradhan Mantri PVTG Development Mission will be launched .
This will saturate PVTG families and habitations with basic facilities such as safe housing, clean drinking water and sanitation, improved access to education, health and nutrition, road and telecom connectivity, and sustainable livelihood opportunities.
The Finance Minister further stated that Rs.15,000 crore will be made available to implement the Mission in the next three years under the Development Action Plan for the Scheduled Tribes.

In India, tribal population makes up for 8.6% of the total population. Tribal people live in about 15% of the geographical area of the country.
Among them some groups are declared as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) based on the following criteria.
- A pre-agriculture level of technology;
- A stagnant or declining population;
- Extremely low literacy; and
- A subsistence level of economy.

In 1973, the Dhebar Commission created Primitive Tribal Groups (PTGs) as a separate category, who are less developed among the tribal groups.
In 2006, the Government of India renamed the PTGs as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups.
75 tribal groups have been categorized by the Ministry of Home Affairs as PVTGs.
PVTGs reside in 18 States and UT of A&N Islands.
Among the 75 listed PVTG’s the highest number are found in Odisha (13), followed by Andhra Pradesh (12). All the four tribal groups in Andamans, and one in Nicobar Islands, are recognised as PVTGs.
The Ministry of Tribal Affairs implements the Scheme of “Development of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)” exclusively for them.
PVTGs depend on various livelihoods such as food gathering, Non Timber Forest Produce (NTFP), hunting, livestock rearing, shifting cultivation and artisan works. Most of their livelihoods depend on the forest.

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