Evaluation Report on Integrated Tribal Development Projects February 1987

Abstract

At the time of the 1931 census from out of India’s total population of 68.52 crores nearly 5.16 crores or some 7.55 per cent consisted of Scheduled Tribes. These tribes live mainly in forests and comprise some 150 different communities of varying sizes who speak about 105 different languages and dialects and many more subsidiary dialects. The origin of these communities goes back to antiquity. They vary widely in their level of socio-economic development, cultural background and heritage, traits, psyche, etc., and constitute perhaps the least economicaly developed segments of the country’s population.