RAS Pre 2021, held on 27 October 2021. Question text as printed in RPSC's booklet; answer as per RPSC's final answer key.

The second highest percentage of Scheduled tribe population in Rajasthan is found in (2011) -

Q: What is the answer to RAS Pre 2021 Q62?

(3). Correct — option (3), Dungarpur District. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs' Statistical Profile of Scheduled Tribes in India 2013 tabulates Census 2011 district by district. It names three Rajasthan districts where Scheduled Tribes are more than half the population: Banswara — 76.4% Dungarpur — 70.8% Pratapgarh — 63.4% Banswara is first, so the second highest percentage is Dungarpur's 70.8%. The count behind it: Dungarpur had 9,83,437 Scheduled Tribe persons in a population of 13,88,552. The Rajasthan Statistical Abstract 2015 reprints the same Census figures. In Census 2011 the order by percentage was Banswara, Dungarpur, Pratapgarh; by number, Udaipur led with 15,25,289.

(1)Banswara District
(2)Pratapgarh District
(3)Dungarpur District
(4)Dausa District

Answer

(3)

Why

Correct — option (3), Dungarpur District.

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs' Statistical Profile of Scheduled Tribes in India 2013 tabulates Census 2011 district by district. It names three Rajasthan districts where Scheduled Tribes are more than half the population:

Banswara — 76.4%
Dungarpur — 70.8%
Pratapgarh — 63.4%

Banswara is first, so the second highest percentage is Dungarpur's 70.8%.

The count behind it: Dungarpur had 9,83,437 Scheduled Tribe persons in a population of 13,88,552. The Rajasthan Statistical Abstract 2015 reprints the same Census figures.

In Census 2011 the order by percentage was Banswara, Dungarpur, Pratapgarh; by number, Udaipur led with 15,25,289.

Why the others are wrong

(1)
Banswara District — Banswara ranks first, not second. Scheduled Tribes were 76.4% of Banswara's population in Census 2011, the highest share in Rajasthan in the ministry's table.
Banswara would answer a question asking for the highest percentage. The next district, and the answer here, is Dungarpur at 70.8%.
(2)
Pratapgarh District — Pratapgarh comes third. Scheduled Tribes were 63.4% of Pratapgarh's population in Census 2011, behind Banswara (76.4%) and Dungarpur (70.8%).
It is one of the three Rajasthan districts above 50% in the ministry's table, and it sits just below the answer in that ranking.
(4)
Dausa District — Dausa's share is much lower. Scheduled Tribes were 26.5% of Dausa's population in Census 2011, in the ministry's 25–50% band with Udaipur (49.7%) and Sirohi (28.2%).
Its count is large, 4,33,344 persons, but that was about a quarter of a population of 16,34,409, far below Dungarpur's 70.8%.

Concept

Scheduled Tribes are specified for each State under Article 342 of the Constitution. The President, after consulting the Governor, notifies the tribes or tribal communities, and Parliament may by law include or exclude communities from that list.

A district's ST percentage is its ST population divided by its total population, times 100. A district can hold many ST persons yet have a modest share, if its total population is large.

In Census 2011, Rajasthan's Scheduled Tribe population was 92,38,534, or 13.5% of the State's people, per the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

RPSC's 2021 Prelims syllabus lists "Population-Growth, Density, Literacy, Sex-ratio & Major Tribes" under the Geography of Rajasthan. District shares of the ST population come from the Census 2011 tables for 33 districts.

In Census 2011 the highest shares lay in the south: Banswara, Dungarpur and Pratapgarh above 50%, and Udaipur at 49.7%.

The two largest ST entries in the State, per the ministry's Census 2011 table, were the Mina (43,45,528) and the Bhil group (41,00,264). Computed from the Statistical Abstract's counts, Nagaur and Bikaner had the lowest shares in Census 2011, each about 0.3%.

Key facts

Census 2011 (Ministry of Tribal Affairs, 2013): Scheduled Tribes were 76.4% of Banswara's population, 70.8% of Dungarpur's and 63.4% of Pratapgarh's.
Udaipur (49.7%), Sirohi (28.2%) and Dausa (26.5%) were the Rajasthan districts in the ministry's 25–50% band for Census 2011.
Rajasthan's Scheduled Tribe population in Census 2011 was 92,38,534, 13.5% of the State's population.
Udaipur had the largest Scheduled Tribe count of any Rajasthan district in Census 2011: 15,25,289 (Statistical Abstract Rajasthan 2015).
The largest ST entries in Rajasthan in Census 2011 were Mina (43,45,528) and the Bhil group (41,00,264), per the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

Scheduled Tribe share of population, Census 2011

Banswara→76.4% — first

Dungarpur→70.8% — second

Pratapgarh→63.4% — third

Udaipur→49.7% (largest count, 15,25,289)

Sirohi→28.2%

Dausa→26.5%

The second highest share is Dungarpur's, option (3). Percentages from the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Statistical Profile of Scheduled Tribes in India 2013.

Study next

Major tribes of Rajasthan: Mina, Bhil, Garasia, SahariyaDistricts with the lowest Scheduled Tribe share in RajasthanScheduled Areas of Rajasthan under the Fifth ScheduleLiteracy among Scheduled Tribes in RajasthanArticle 342 and the listing of Scheduled Tribes

Common traps

Answering the highest instead of the second highest. Banswara is first at 76.4%; the stem asks for the next, Dungarpur.
Confusing number with percentage. In Census 2011 Udaipur had the largest ST count, 15,25,289, but that was 49.7% of its population, below Dungarpur's 70.8%.
Reading a large count as a large share. Dausa's 4,33,344 ST persons were 26.5% of its population in Census 2011.

A question can ask which district ranks first, second or last by Scheduled Tribe percentage in a Census, as this one does.

A question can also arrange districts by ST share, ask which two districts have the lowest share, or ask for the largest tribe in the State.

Related PYQs

UnlockIAS will link similar questions from RAS Pre 2018 and 2013 here once those papers are published on this site.

Practice

practice — not a real PYQ
According to Census 2011, which district of Rajasthan had the largest Scheduled Tribe population in number?
- (a)Banswara
- (b)Udaipur
- (c)Dungarpur
- (d)Pratapgarh
Answer(2) — Udaipur had 15,25,289 Scheduled Tribe persons. Option (1), Banswara, had 13,72,999; option (3), Dungarpur, 9,83,437; option (4), Pratapgarh, 5,50,427. Banswara led by percentage, not by number.
practice — not a real PYQ
Arrange the following districts of Rajasthan in descending order of the percentage of Scheduled Tribe population (Census 2011): Pratapgarh, Banswara, Udaipur, Dungarpur
- (a)Banswara, Dungarpur, Pratapgarh, Udaipur
- (b)Banswara, Pratapgarh, Dungarpur, Udaipur
- (c)Dungarpur, Banswara, Pratapgarh, Udaipur
- (d)Udaipur, Banswara, Dungarpur, Pratapgarh
Answer(1) — The shares are Banswara 76.4%, Dungarpur 70.8%, Pratapgarh 63.4% and Udaipur 49.7%. Option (2) puts Pratapgarh above Dungarpur; option (3) puts Dungarpur first; option (4) ranks Udaipur by its count, not its share.