Why did the NCST urge the Centre and States?

• An estimated 50,000 Gotti Koya tribals were displaced due to Left-Wing Extremism and now live in 248 settlements across Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Maharashtra.
• Reports indicate that Telangana has reclaimed land from internally displaced persons (IDPs) in 75 settlements, impacting the tribals’ livelihoods and increasing their vulnerability.

• Multi-racial and multi-lingual communities found in the forests, plains, and valleys on both sides of the Godavari River in AP, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha.
• Migrated from Bastar, northern India.

• Koya language (Koyi) is a Dravidian language related to Gondi and influenced by Telugu.
• Most speak Gondi or Telugu alongside Koyi.
• Divided into five subdivisions (gotrams).
  • Patrilineal and patrilocal family structure, with a focus on monogamous, nuclear family.
• Worship their own ethnic religion alongside Hindu gods, with Mother Earth being a significant deity.
• Burial or cremation of the dead, with the erection of menhirs in memory.
• Pastoralists and shifting cultivators (Podu), are now engaged in settled cultivation, animal husbandry, and seasonal forest collection.
  • Grow Jowar, Ragi, Bajra, and other millets.
  • Maintain community funds and grain banks for food security.

• Vijji Pandum (Seeds charming festival) and KondalaKolupu (Festival to appease hill deities).
• Perform the Permakok (Bison horn dance) during festivals and marriages.
• Sammakka Saralamma Jatra, held once every two years on the full moon day of Magha Masam (January/February) at Medaram village, Warangal district.

• Many fled to Andhra Pradesh (now Telangana) in the mid-2000s due to violent conflicts between Maoist insurgents and Salwa Judum (Govt backed tribal militia).
• Salwa Judum was later banned by the Supreme Court of India in 2011.

PYQ:

[2014] Every year, a month long ecologically important campaign/festival is held during which certain communities/tribes plant saplings of fruit-bearing trees. Which of the following are such communities/ tribes?

(a) Bhutia and Lepcha
(b) Gond and Korku
(c) Irula and Toda
(d) Sahariya and Agariya