Which one of the following is not one of the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) of Madhya Pradesh ?

Question

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Correct — D, Asur. Madhya Pradesh has exactly three notified Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups: Baiga, Bharia and Sahariya (Saharia). The Asur are a PVTG of Jharkhand — a Chotanagpur-plateau community traditionally known as iron-smelters — and do not appear on Madhya Pradesh's list. So Asur is the one name here that belongs to another state's PVTG roll.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) Sahariya is a notified PVTG of Madhya Pradesh, concentrated in the Gwalior–Chambal belt (Sheopur, Shivpuri, Morena, Gwalior and neighbouring districts) and spilling across into Rajasthan.  (b) Baiga is a notified PVTG of Madhya Pradesh, concentrated in Dindori, Mandla, Balaghat, Umaria and Shahdol — and the first community in India to be granted habitat rights under the Forest Rights Act.  (c) Bharia is a notified PVTG of Madhya Pradesh, whose core habitat is the Patalkot valley of Chhindwara district (the very subject of the next question in this paper).

Concept: PVTG is not a constitutional category but an administrative sub-classification within the Scheduled Tribes. Following the Dhebar Commission's concern about the most backward tribal pockets, the government began identifying 'Primitive Tribal Groups' from the Fifth Five Year Plan (1975); the label was changed to 'Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups' in 2006. Identification rests on four criteria: a pre-agricultural level of technology, a stagnant or declining population, extremely low literacy, and a subsistence economy. India now has 75 notified PVTGs.

State PCS 2025 Q53 — Madhya Pradesh GK PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2025 Q53 — Madhya Pradesh GK PYQ with Answer