Introduction

Introduction

The tribal population is one of the most marginalized groups in India. Majority of them live under chronic poverty and are facing acute food insecurity. In comparison to any other social group, tribals’ representation is very low in Human Development Index and high in Human Poverty Index of the country. The studies have shown that tribals lag behind in all developmental spheres, that is, social, economic, educational and political. The tribal population is numerically small in numbers but represents enormous diversity in respect of size, language, identity, colour, physical features, etc. They are largely away from the mainstream society but spread over large areas of the country. India is home to single largest tribal population in the world. Here, more than 20 states and 2 union territories (UTs) have the highest concentration of Scheduled Tribe (ST) population. There are 834 tribal communities that form 8.6 per cent, that is, 103 million of total population in India (Census of India 2011). It has a higher decadal population growth rate of 23.66 per cent from Census 2001 to Census 2011, as compared to the decadal growth rate of 17.69 per cent for the entire population. Total 89.97 per cent of the ST population resides in rural areas and 10.3 per cent lives in urban areas. The sex ratio is more balanced at 990 females per 1,000 males as against 940 females per 1,000 males for the entire population (Census of India 2011).

[Page 2]As per available data, it has been observed that more than half of the ST population is concentrated in Central India in states such as Madhya Pradesh (14.69%), Maharashtra (10.08%), Odisha (9.2%), Rajasthan (8.86%), Gujarat (8.55%), Jharkhand (8.29%), Chhattisgarh (7.5%) and Andhra Pradesh (5.7%). The areas with distinct ST population in the northeast are Assam (3.72%), Meghalaya (2.45%), Nagaland (1.64%), Tripura (1.12%), Mizoram (0.99%), Arunachal Pradesh (0.91%), Manipur (0.87%) and Sikkim (0.20%). All these states also have an ST population that is higher than the country's average (8.61%). Two states of Punjab and Haryana and three UTs of Delhi, Puducherry and Chandigarh have no ST population as no STs are notified.

It is also observed that more than two-thirds (67.17%) of the ST population of the country is concentrated only in the seven states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. Among states, Mizoram (94.43%) has the highest proportion of STs in its population, and Uttar Pradesh (0.57%) has the lowest population. Among UTs, Lakshadweep (94.8%) has the highest proportion of STs and Daman and Diu (6.32%) has the lowest proportion (Statistics Division, Ministry of Tribal Affairs, 2013).

The literacy rate for the ST population is 58.96 per cent as against the literacy rate of 72.99 per cent for the entire population, which shows a gap of 14.03 percentage points (Census of India 2011). The Constitution of India, through Article 46, mandates the protection of the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the society, including STs, and their protection from social injustice and all forms of exploitation. To cater to their educational needs, tribal ashram schools and Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRSs) have been established in tribal areas to improve both accessibility and quality of education for STs.

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