Members of the Mundapota Kela community in Odisha perform an unthinkable act of their head buried in soil, which requires exceptional breath control, for a living.

Mundapota Kela

• The community — Mundapota Kela (a denotified tribe) — is left with few members who earn a livelihood with this bizarre act.
• It is believed to have migrated to Odisha from Rayalaseema area of Andhra Pradesh decades ago.
• Being street performers, they travel from one village to another and bury their heads in soil for several minutes.
• They collect rice, vegetables and money from villagers for putting up the show.

Try answering this PYQ:

Q.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?

(a) 1, 2 and 3

(b) 2, 3 and 4

(c) 1, 2 and 4

(d) 1, 3 and 4

 

Post your answers here:

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Back2Basics: De-Notified Tribes

• Denotified Tribes (DNTs), also known as Vimukta Jati are the tribes that were listed originally under the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871 as Criminal Tribes.
• Once a tribe became “notified” as criminal, all its members were required to register with the local magistrate, failing which they would be charged with a “crime” under the Indian Penal Code.
• The Criminal Tribes Act was repealed in 1949 and thus ‘de-notified’ the tribal communities.
• The denotified tribes were reclassified as “habitual offenders” in 1959.
• The UN’s anti-discrimination body Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) asked India to repeal the Habitual Offenders Act (1952) and effectively rehabilitate the denotified and nomadic tribes on 9 March 2007.
• A National Commission for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes (NCDNSNT) was setup in 2003 to study various developmental aspects under the chairmanship of Shri. Balkrishna Renke.

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