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Scheduled Tribes and their regions

Human geography of India · Part 4 / 4 · Fact-checked on 8 November 2026 · how we check

Written with AI from the sources listed at the bottom of this page, then fact-checked by a separate AI.

Who is a Scheduled Tribe under Articles 366(25) and 342; the Fifth and Sixth Schedules, PESA and other safeguards; the Scheduled Tribe population in 2011 and its state pattern; the five tribal belts and the major tribes in each; Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups and PM JANMAN; shifting cultivation, land alienation, displacement and the Forest Rights Act.

Parts 1 to 3 looked at India's people as a whole. This last part turns to the Scheduled Tribe communities, whom the Constitution names and protects. More than one Indian in twelve belongs to them, yet they are spread very unevenly, from States where they are a tiny minority to north-eastern States where they form most of the population. It covers who counts as a Scheduled Tribe and the special rules for their areas, the 2011 figures, the main tribal belts and tribes, the most vulnerable groups, and the pressures on tribal land and forest.

The Constitution does not define a tribe by its customs. Article 366(25) says Scheduled Tribes are the tribes or tribal communities, or parts of or groups within them, that are 'deemed under article 342 to be Scheduled Tribes'. Article 342 gives the first step to the President, who, after consulting the Governor in the case of a State, issues a public notification naming the communities for that State or Union Territory. After that only a law of Parliament, not a fresh notification, can add or remove a community. Because the list is drawn State by State, a community may be a Scheduled Tribe in one State and not in its neighbour. To decide which groups to propose, the government uses the markers of the Lokur Committee (1965): primitive traits, a distinctive culture, geographical isolation, shyness of contact with the wider community, and backwardness. More than 700 communities are notified across India.

Article 244 sets up two different frames for tribal regions. The Fifth Schedule governs each Scheduled Area in every State other than Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram. In these areas the Governor may direct that an Act of Parliament or of the State Legislature shall not apply, or shall apply only with changes, and may make regulations for peace and good government, in particular to forbid or limit the transfer of land by tribal people and to control moneylending. Each such State must have a Tribes Advisory Council of not more than twenty members, about three-fourths of them Scheduled Tribe members of the State Legislative Assembly. Ten States now have Fifth Schedule areas. The Sixth Schedule covers tribal areas in the four north-eastern States named above and goes further. It creates autonomous district councils of up to thirty members, which make laws on matters such as land, forests other than reserved forests, shifting cultivation, inheritance and village administration, and run their own courts for local disputes.

Part IX of the Constitution, the panchayat chapter added in 1992, did not apply on its own to Fifth Schedule areas. Parliament extended it to them through the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, known as PESA, with changes that put the village community at the centre. Under PESA every Gram Sabha is competent to safeguard the people's traditions, community resources and customary ways of settling disputes. It, or the panchayat at the right level, must be consulted before land is acquired for projects; and panchayats get ownership of minor forest produce and powers to prevent land alienation and to regulate moneylending. Alongside sit the general safeguards: seats reserved in the Lok Sabha and the State assemblies (Articles 330 and 332), forty-seven Lok Sabha seats after the 2008 delimitation; and a minister for tribal welfare in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha under Article 164(1). The 89th Amendment, 2003, created a separate National Commission for Scheduled Tribes under Article 338A, splitting it from the commission for Scheduled Castes under Article 338.

Census 2011 counted about 10.4 crore Scheduled Tribe people, 8.6 per cent of India's population, up from 8.2 per cent in 2001. Close to nine in ten live in villages. Their sex ratio, about 990 females per 1,000 males, is better than the national figure of 943, while their literacy, about 59 per cent, trails the national rate of about 73 per cent, and the gap is widest among women. These averages hide large differences between tribes. Some are settled farming communities in which schooling has spread quickly, while others still live mainly by hunting, gathering or shifting farming in remote hills and islands.

Counted by numbers, Madhya Pradesh has the largest Scheduled Tribe population, about 1.53 crore in 2011; Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan and Gujarat follow, then Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. Counted by share, the picture shifts to the north-east and the islands. Lakshadweep (about 95 per cent) and Mizoram (about 94 per cent) are almost wholly tribal, and Nagaland, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh also have tribal majorities. Among the larger States the share is highest in Chhattisgarh (about 31 per cent) and Jharkhand (about 26 per cent). At the other end, no Scheduled Tribe has been notified for Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Chandigarh or Puducherry, and in Uttar Pradesh they make up well under one per cent.

Geographers usually group India's tribal homelands into five belts. The north-eastern belt covers the hill States and parts of Assam, where Tibeto-Burman speaking peoples such as the Nagas, Mizos and Bodos live alongside the Khasi and Garo of Meghalaya. The central belt, the largest, runs across the old plateau country of Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, eastern Madhya Pradesh, the western edge of West Bengal and the eastern parts of Maharashtra and Telangana; it is home to the Gond, Santhal, Munda, Oraon and Ho. The western belt follows the Aravalli and Satpura hills through southern Rajasthan, eastern Gujarat, western Madhya Pradesh and northern Maharashtra, and is the land of the Bhil. The southern belt is smaller and broken into pockets, from the Nilgiris and the Western Ghats to the Nallamala hills, with groups such as the Toda, Kurumba, Irula and Chenchu. The island belt takes in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep.

Two tribes stand out by size. The Bhil were the most numerous Scheduled Tribe in 2011, about 1.7 crore people spread over Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra, and they speak Bhili, an Indo-Aryan language. The Gond, about 1.3 crore, came next; they live across Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Telangana, and their Gondi language is Dravidian, as is Kurukh, the language of the Oraon of Jharkhand. The Santhal, mainly in Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha, were the third largest. Their language, Santali, is written in the Ol Chiki script and was added to the Eighth Schedule by the 92nd Amendment in 2003; together with Mundari and Ho it belongs to the Austric family. History ties several of these tribes to resistance against colonial rule and moneylenders: the Santhal rising of 1855–56, led by the brothers Sidhu and Kanhu, and the Ulgulan of the Munda under Birsa Munda at the close of the nineteenth century.

The north-east has the densest pattern of distinct tribes. In Meghalaya the Khasi, Jaintia and Garo follow matrilineal descent: family name and property usually pass through the mother, and among the Khasi the youngest daughter traditionally inherits the ancestral house. Nagaland is home to many Naga tribes such as the Angami, Ao and Konyak, and the Bodo are the largest plains tribe of Assam. In the south, the Toda of the Nilgiris are pastoral people whose way of life centres on their buffaloes, and the Chenchu of the Nallamala hills depend heavily on the forest. The Andaman Islands are home to some of the world's most isolated peoples: the Great Andamanese, Jarawa, Onge and Sentinelese, while the Shompen live in the forests of Great Nicobar and the Nicobarese, the largest island community, are settled coconut growers.

Within the Scheduled Tribes some groups are far more exposed than the rest. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs identifies them as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group communities using four tests: a pre-agricultural level of technology, a stagnant or declining population, extremely low literacy and a subsistence level of economy. They were earlier called 'Primitive Tribal Groups'. There are 75 PVTGs in 18 States and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Odisha has the largest number, thirteen. The Great Andamanese, Jarawa, Onge, Sentinelese and Shompen are all on the list, as are the Baiga of Madhya Pradesh and the Bondo and Dongria Kondh of Odisha. In November 2023 the Centre launched PM JANMAN (Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan), a mission with an outlay of about ₹24,000 crore to bring housing, roads, piped water, electricity, health care and schooling to PVTG habitations.

Many tribal problems come from a clash between old ways of using land and new demands on it. shifting cultivation, called jhum in the north-east and podu in parts of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Odisha, clears a patch of forest by slashing and burning, farms it for a few years and then moves on, leaving the forest to grow back. It worked while the fallow period was long, but with more people and less forest the cycle has shortened, so soils wear out and hill slopes erode. Land alienation is a second strand: tribal land passing to outsiders through debt, fraud or sale. In Samatha v. State of Andhra Pradesh (1997) the Supreme Court held that the State could not lease tribal land in Scheduled Areas to private, non-tribal mining firms. Third, dams, mines and factories in mineral-rich tribal districts have displaced many tribal families. In the Niyamgiri case (2013) the Court asked the gram sabhas of the Niyamgiri hills in Odisha to decide whether bauxite mining would harm their religious and forest rights, and all twelve rejected it.

The State's answers have moved from protecting tribes towards recognising their rights. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs was set up in October 1999. The Forest Rights Act, formally the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, recognises the rights of forest-dwelling communities to land they were cultivating before 13 December 2005 and to community resources such as minor forest produce, grazing and the protection and management of community forests; the gram sabha starts the process of deciding claims. Taken together, the chapter's four parts form one picture: the Census counts India's people, composition and movement show how they live, and for tribes, hills and forests explain where they live, the Schedules, PESA and the Forest Rights Act try to keep their land in their hands, and PVTGs and the 2011 figures show where the gaps are widest.

Exam traps

• A community becomes a Scheduled Tribe by the President's notification under Article 342; after that first list, only a LAW OF PARLIAMENT can add or remove a community, not a fresh notification.
• The Fifth Schedule does NOT apply to Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram; their tribal areas fall under the Sixth Schedule with autonomous district councils.
• PESA (1996) extends Part IX panchayats to FIFTH Schedule areas only, not to Sixth Schedule areas.
• By NUMBER Madhya Pradesh has the most Scheduled Tribes; by SHARE Lakshadweep and Mizoram lead. No Scheduled Tribe list exists for Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Chandigarh or Puducherry.
• The Bhil, not the Gond, were the most numerous Scheduled Tribe in 2011; the Gond were second and the Santhal third.
• Gondi and Kurukh are DRAVIDIAN; Santali, Mundari and Ho are AUSTRIC. Santali (Ol Chiki script) entered the Eighth Schedule by the 92nd Amendment, 2003.
• The separate National Commission for Scheduled Tribes is under Article 338A, created by the 89th Amendment (2003); Article 338 is the commission for Scheduled Castes.
• PVTG tests are pre-agricultural technology, stagnant or declining population, very low literacy and a subsistence economy; there is no minimum population size. There are 75 PVTGs, Odisha having the most (13).

Recap

• Art 366(25) defines Scheduled Tribes by reference to Art 342: President notifies State-wise lists after consulting the Governor; only Parliament can amend them by law.
• Lokur Committee (1965) markers: primitive traits, distinctive culture, geographical isolation, shyness of contact, backwardness; 700+ communities notified.
• Art 244: Fifth Schedule for Scheduled Areas (ten States; Governor's regulations; Tribes Advisory Council of up to 20); Sixth Schedule for Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram (autonomous district councils).
• PESA 1996 extends Part IX to Fifth Schedule areas with strong gram sabhas; Art 330/332 seats (47 in Lok Sabha); Art 164(1) tribal welfare minister in four States; NCST under Art 338A (89th Amendment, 2003).
• 2011: about 10.4 crore Scheduled Tribe people, 8.6% of India; about 90% rural; sex ratio about 990; literacy about 59%.
• Most by number: Madhya Pradesh (about 1.53 crore); highest share: Lakshadweep, Mizoram; no list at all: Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Chandigarh, Puducherry.
• Five belts: north-eastern, central (largest), western, southern, islands; Bhil (largest), Gond, Santhal (Ol Chiki, 92nd Amendment), Munda (Birsa Munda's Ulgulan).
• 75 PVTGs in 18 States and A&N, Odisha most (13); PM JANMAN (November 2023, about ₹24,000 crore).
• Issues: jhum/podu with shortened cycles, land alienation (Samatha, 1997), displacement (Niyamgiri, 2013); Ministry of Tribal Affairs (October 1999); Forest Rights Act 2006 (cut-off 13 December 2005).

Practice questions

Sources

• Constitution of India: Articles 164(1), 244, 330, 332, 338, 338A, 342 and 366(25); Fifth and Sixth Schedules; Constitution (Eighty-ninth Amendment) Act, 2003 and (Ninety-second Amendment) Act, 2003 — https://legislative.gov.in/constitution-of-india/
• The Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996; The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 — https://www.indiacode.nic.in
• Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India: Census of India 2011, Primary Census Abstract for Scheduled Tribes and individual Scheduled Tribe data highlights — https://censusindia.gov.in
• Ministry of Tribal Affairs: Statistical Profile of Scheduled Tribes in India (2013), annual reports, the list and criteria of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups, and the Lokur Committee (1965) criteria — https://tribal.nic.in
• Press Information Bureau: the launch of PM JANMAN at Khunti, Jharkhand (15 November 2023) — https://pib.gov.in
• Andaman and Nicobar Administration: the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Protection of Aboriginal Tribes) Regulation, 1956 and the tribal communities of the islands — https://andaman.gov.in
• Supreme Court of India: Samatha v. State of Andhra Pradesh (1997); Orissa Mining Corporation Ltd v. Ministry of Environment and Forests (2013) — https://digiscr.sci.gov.in