Delineate about the PTGs

a) Identification, classification with historical genesis:

A historical analysis of the PTGs must start with the effort to understand the meaning of the term primitive as viewed by different scholars. The contribution of twelve scholars in Ashley Montaqhues book (1968) shows that the concept primitive for tribal people was a misnomer in the sense that they had many complex social system far greater than the contemporary modern societies. Thus, in contemporary Indian situation the term is used as an administrative category within the broad category of Scheduled Tribe who are enlisted in the Schedules of the Indian Constitution. Many scholars opine that they should be categorized as primary groups (Singh, 1988:95). The British Administration in India treated the tribal people of the country in a different way. The then administrators were indifferent about the condition of the tribals, after various stresses and strains they wanted to keep them isolated. Still there were some attempts to bring the tribal groups in the purview of administration though in a very limited perspective. In the Government of India Act 1935, a specific mention was made on the "Backward Tribes". As per Thirteenth Schedule to the Government of India (Provincial Legislative Assemblies) Order 1936 certain tribal groups were specified as backward in Assam, Bihar, Orissa, Central Provinces and Berar, Madras and Bombay. During 1931 census operations it was Dr. J.H. Hutton who, first of all, applied the term "primitive tribe" which received widespread acceptance in those days. After the attainment of independence, specific measures were adopted by the Indian National Government to develop certain positive ways for the betterment of the condition of the tribal people in general. There was an effort to identify the more backward communities for the purpose of making special programmes for those people. In 1961, the Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes Commission was formed which was popularly known as Dhebar Commission. The Commission realised that the tribal communities are at the various levels of socio-economic perspectives. The Study Team, on Tribal Development Programmes, known as Shilu Ao Team discerned in 1969 highlighted the prominent imbalance in the conditions of the tribal communities. It was understood by the end of the Fourth Five Year Plan that all the efforts made for development practically reached the more developed communities and the people of the lowest layer" failed to get those. The Shilu Ao

Team felt that the lowest layer as mentioned in the Dhebar Commission should be given utmost contemplation as they required special endeavour and specific duty for development. All the observations made by the Study Team advocated categorically for the identification of the most backward tribes known as Primitive Tribal Groups. It is to be noted here that the Fifth Five Year plan indicates the beginning of the new phase in the tribal development. First of all, a clear-cut policy frame was pronounced by the Government of India. It was reflected in the guidelines for the framing of a Tribal Sub-plan launched by the Planning Commission in the year 1974. The Tribal Sub-Plan approach was characterized by having the two sided views - firstly, interest of the tribal people should be protected through the adoption of legal and administrative support and, secondly, for the raising of the income and living standard of those people, developmental efforts through planned schemes should be taken up. But the problem cropped up into the matter of precise identification of the primitive groups. After a detailed delineation and reflection on several aspects of tribal administration and welfare during 1975 and 1976, detailed guidelines were issued for the purpose of identification of the Primitive Tribal Groups. The specific criteria that have been adopted to identify the Primitive Tribal Groups are briefly the following:

i) Pre-agricultural level of technology: Majority of the tribes of this group lives in forests and is exclusively dependent on forest for their livelihood by practicing hunting and gathering. They use primitive technology, limited skills, and traditional ritual practices in their day to day life. ii) Very low level of literacy: most of the PTGs live in inaccessible hilly and forested areas spending most of their times for food gathering etc. Thus they have hardly time to send their children for schooling which they still perceive a luxury and foreign idea. The unconfirmed reports show that the average literacy among PTGs is less than 10 percent. iii) Small, stagnant and diminishing population: This is a tragic aspect of PTGs. barring some numerically dominant PTGs several others have been moving towards total extinction. They are basically primitive hunters and food gatherers. Abrupt changes in ecological condition, contact with non-tribal population carrying foreign diseases, utter poverty and scarcity of natural resources on which they used to survive etc are major reasons for their depopulation. 1

Source: Ministry of Home Afairs, GOI.

During the Fifth Five Year Plan period 52 Primitive Tribal Groups were identified in various States. Then during the Sixth Five Year Plan and the first three years of the Seventh Five Year Plan 20 and 2 more such tribal groups were added to the existing list. Thus in all 74 Primitive Tribal Groups have been noted. Recently another one has been added making the total number 75. These groups are distributed in 14 States and in one Union Territory of India. These tribal communities have been recognized as primitive principally because of the fact that they are still in the stage of hunting and gathering economy with very little or no practice of crude cultivation. These people till today pursue a precarious way of life with crude technology. There has been lot of controversy over the use of the word primitive for a group of people. The concept of primitivism is characterized by lots of traits having a wider acceptance. These are viewed as the core features found in the life ways of the primitive people. These characters have been discussed as follows:

i)

These people are basically dependent upon their unsteady subsistence economy. They have to struggle continuously for satisfying their hunger. Their search for food collection is never limited to a particular region because paucity of food resources frequently occurs after continuous collection for a particular span of time. Hunter-gatherers have to change their habitat from time to time which results in their nomadic habits.

ii)

Primitive Tribal people are characterized by band organisations which is practically an economic bonding. The band is constituted by a few close-set families which may be made up of kinship. The band is always governed by a leader. In many instances inter-band activities are seen among the bands in the event of say group hunting and other group based performances.

iii)

These people exploit their immediate ecological settings to maintain their livelihood. The idea of storing food materials is usually not seen. A true symbiotic relationship with nature is observed safeguarding the various elements of nature and for which they have got various taboos and norms against indiscriminate collection of natural wealth.

iv)

Use of crude technology to exploit natural resources is the universal phenomenon. But technology may be different across regions owing to the nature of immediate ecology.

v)

Reciprocity is the basic characteristic feature of all sorts of economic

transactions which may be effected either within the band or between the bands. There always prevails a constant atmosphere of total sharing within the band organisation as well as inside the village or camp. vi) Barter and exchange of goods and services are the primary means of economic relation. The profit motive in economic dealings is completely absent. Exchange of goods between two unrelated or mutually jealous groups is affected, many a time, through a novel pattern, known as silent trade. As per convention, one group places a specific product needed by the other group at a particular spot and go away. After a considerable period the first group comes back to see that the other group has presented some materials mostly needed by them. In this exchange system neither group has the chance to see the other group at the time of transaction.