According to the 2011 Census, how many tribes are there in Madhya Pradesh (except particularly vulnerable tribal groups)?

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — D, 43. The arithmetic the commission is testing is simple once the bracket is read: Madhya Pradesh's Scheduled Tribe list is counted at 46 communities, and three of them — Baiga, Bharia and Sahariya — are separately notified as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups. Take those three out, as the question expressly asks, and 43 remain. The state's Tribal Affairs Department keeps the three PVTGs in a category of their own, recording them in 2,314 identified villages with a population of about 5.51 lakh, served by dedicated development agencies — which is precisely why the exam can ask for the count 'except' them.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) The right number for the wrong question — 46 is the full count of the state's tribe list, PVTGs included. It is the option candidates pick when they skim past the bracket 'except particularly vulnerable tribal groups'.  (b) No recognised classification of Madhya Pradesh's tribes yields 45. It would require exactly one PVTG to be subtracted, and the state has three.  (c) Likewise unsupported — this would mean two PVTGs. Madhya Pradesh's PVTGs number three (Baiga, Bharia, Sahariya), so 46 minus 3 is the only defensible subtraction.

Concept: Scheduled Tribes are notified state by state. Under Article 342 the President, by public notification (and for a State, after consulting the Governor), specifies the tribes deemed Scheduled Tribes for that State or Union Territory, and thereafter only Parliament can add or remove a community by law. That is why a community can be an ST in one state and not in the next — and why every state has its own count. Within the ST category the Centre has separately identified the most vulnerable communities as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (originally 'Primitive Tribal Groups'), using criteria such as pre-agricultural level of technology, low level of literacy, a stagnant or declining population and extreme economic backwardness. There are 75 PVTGs in India, spread across 18 States and one Union Territory; Madhya Pradesh's three are Baiga, Bharia and Sahariya.

State PCS 2026 Q62 — Madhya Pradesh GK PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2026 Q62 — Madhya Pradesh GK PYQ with Answer