The COVID-19 pandemic has reached the Bondas, a PVTGs community residing in the hill ranges of Malkangiri district in Odisha.

Try this PYQ:

Consider the following statements about Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) in India:

1. PVTGs reside in 18 States and one Union Territory.
2. A stagnant or declining population is one of the criteria for determining PVTG status.
3. There are 95 PVTGs officially notified in the country so far.
4. Irular and Konda Reddi tribes are included in the list of PVTGs.

Which of the statements given above are correct?(CSP 2019)

(a) 1, 2 and 3

(b) 2, 3 and 4

(c) 1, 2 and 4

(d) 1, 3 and 4

Who are the Bondas?

• The Bondas are Munda ethnic group who live in the isolated hill regions of the Malkangiri district of southwestern Odisha near the junction of the three states of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Andhra Pradesh.
• They are a scheduled tribe of India and are also known as the Remo (meaning “people” in the Bonda language).
• The tribe is one of the oldest and most primitive in mainland India; their culture has changed little for more than a thousand years.
• Their isolation and known aggressiveness continue to preserve their culture despite the pressures of an expanding Indian population.

Back2Basics: Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)

• There are certain tribal communities who have declining or stagnant population, low level of literacy, pre-agricultural level of technology and are economically backward.
• They generally inhabit remote localities having poor infrastructure and administrative support.
• These groups are among the most vulnerable section of our society as they are few in numbers, have not attained any significant level of social and economic development.
• 75 such groups have been identified and categorized as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs).

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