Habitat Rights of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG)

• Context (IE): Baiga community, a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG), became the second PVTG to get habitat rights in Chhattisgarh, after the Kamar tribal group.

Habitat Rights

• Habitat rights recognition grants communities the right to their traditional territory, socio-cultural practices, livelihoods, ecological and traditional knowledge, and the protection of their natural and cultural heritage. (Habitat rights don’t grant ownership to property).
• Habitat rights are given to PVTGs under section 3(1) (e) of The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 or Forest Rights Act (FRA).
• According to FRA, “Habitat comprises the customary habitat and such other habitats in reserved forests and protected forests of primitive tribal groups and pre-agricultural communities and other forest dwelling Scheduled Tribes.”

How the Government Fixes a Habitat

• The procedure is based on guidelines from the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) in 2014.
• The tribal leaders are consulted about the extent of their culture, traditions, and occupation.
• The government corroborates it, and then a habitat is declared.
• The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) provides technical assistance to the administration to implement the habitat rights law.
• Four state-level departments, i.e., Forest, Revenue, Tribal, and Panchayati Raj, coordinate with the UNDP team to ascertain habitats.

Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG)

• PVTG (previously known as a Primitive Tribal Group) is a sub-classification of Scheduled Tribes considered more vulnerable among the tribal groups.
• Dhebar Commission (or Tribal Panchsheel Committee) recommended the creation of Primitive Tribal Groups (PTGs). Based on this, the Indian Government created PTGs in 1975.
• In 2006, PTGs were renamed as PVTGs.
• At present, there are 75 PVTGs out of 705 Scheduled Tribes.
• Odisha has the highest number of PVTGs.

• Criteria followed for identification of PVTGs are:

1. Pre-agricultural level of technology
2. Low level of literacy
3. Economic backwardness
4. A declining or stagnant population

PVTGs with Habitat Rights

• Only three PVTGs have habitat rights.
  1. Bharia Tribe (Madhya Pradesh): 1st PVTG to get habitat right.
  2. Kamar Tribe (Chhattisgarh)
  3. Baiga Tribe (Chhattisgarh)

Benefits of Habitat Rights to PVTGs

• Protect traditional habitats from developmental activities: Habitat rights require consent and consultation of gram sabha for development activities. This provision helps protect traditional habitats from harmful activities like mining.