MPPSC 2025 Prelims Paper-I · Question 29 of 100

Correct — B, the Special Backward Tribal community. 'Special backward tribal group' (विशेष पिछड़ी जनजाति) is the term Madhya Pradesh uses for its Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) — the Baiga, Bhariya and Sahariya. Aahar Anudan Yojana, shown by the state's own scheme records as commencing on 23-12-2017 and run by the Tribal Affairs Department, gives these three communities a monthly nutrition grant transferred directly into the beneficiary's bank account; the state's press releases record the money being credited to the women beneficiaries of Baiga, Bhariya and Sahariya families. The scheme is defined by PVTG status, not by tribe size, literacy or employment.

• (a)Bhil Tribal Community — The Bhils are Madhya Pradesh's largest tribal community, which makes this the natural guess — but they are not notified as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group, and this scheme is targeted specifically at the state's PVTGs (Baiga, Bhariya, Sahariya).
• (c)Illiterate Tribes — 'Illiterate tribes' is not an official category. Low literacy is one of the criteria used to identify PVTGs, but no scheme is notified for an 'illiterate tribes' group — benefits flow to the notified ST/PVTG lists.
• (d)Unemployed Tribes — There is no such notified category either. Employment-linked support for tribal households comes through MGNREGA and livelihood missions, not through this nutrition grant.

Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups are the most fragile sub-set of Scheduled Tribes — identified using criteria such as a pre-agricultural level of technology, very low literacy, a stagnant or declining population and extreme economic backwardness. The category began as 'Primitive Tribal Groups' on the Dhebar Commission's logic and was renamed PVTG in 2006; 75 groups are notified across the country. Madhya Pradesh has three — Baiga, Bhariya and Sahariya — and maintains a separate development authority for each.

The answer turns on decoding the phrase 'special backward tribal community': in Madhya Pradesh's official vocabulary that phrase means PVTG. Once you read it that way, the scheme's identity is settled and the size of the Bhil population becomes irrelevant. Expect MPPSC to pair a scheme with either its start date or its target group, so store both.

• Start date recorded in the state's scheme records: 23-12-2017; implementing department: Tribal Affairs, Madhya Pradesh.
• Target: the state's three PVTGs — Baiga, Bhariya and Sahariya; the grant is credited directly (DBT) to the beneficiary's account, with the state crediting women beneficiaries of these families.
• Madhya Pradesh runs three separate PVTG bodies — the Baiga, Bhariya and Sahariya Development Authorities.
• Where they live: Baiga in Dindori, Mandla, Balaghat, Shahdol, Umaria and Anuppur; Bhariya in the Patalkot area of Chhindwara; Sahariya in the Sheopur–Shivpuri (Gwalior–Chambal) belt.
• India has 75 notified PVTGs; PM-JANMAN (2023) is the central mission for PVTG households and habitations.

• Bhil and Gond are MP's largest tribes but are NOT PVTGs — size is not vulnerability.
• Reading 'special backward tribal group' as a loose description; in MP it is the official label for PVTGs.
• Assuming the benefit is food rations — it is a cash grant transferred to a bank account.

MPPSC asks the scheme–target group–start date triplet for state schemes; UPSC stays at the concept level (PVTG criteria, numbers, which tribes are PVTGs). Prepare MP's three PVTGs and their districts as one block.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which of the following is NOT a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) of Madhya Pradesh?

  • (a)Baiga
  • (b)Bhariya
  • (c)Sahariya
  • (d)Bhil

  Answer(d) Bhil — the largest tribe of MP, but not a notified PVTG.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  PM-JANMAN, launched in 2023, is aimed primarily at the development of:

  • (a)Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group households and habitations
  • (b)Urban slum dwellers
  • (c)Small and marginal farmers
  • (d)Coastal fishing communities

  Answer(a) PVTG households and habitations — saturating them with basic facilities.