Governance
Context: The role of welfare schemes and policies for the Parhaiyas of Jharkhand.
About the Parhaiyas
- Parhaiyas is one of the nine Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) of Jharkhand state.
- Mainly concentrated in Latehar and Palamau districts of Jharkhand state
- Parhaiyas are still lagging behind on most of the important indicators of development such as health, education, and income.
- Parahiya literally means “the burners of the forest” or “hill dweller.”
- People rely on the forest for their sustenance.
- Collecting various types of forest produce such as roots, fruits and leaves and sell them at the local markets.
- Hunting is also one of the major sources of income.
About PVTGs
- Sub-classification of Scheduled Tribe, who are most vulnerable in certain parameter then the other Scheduled Tribe community.
- During the fourth Five Year Plan a sub-category was created within Scheduled Tribes
- Created based on the Dhebar Commission report.
- The features of such a group include
- a pre-agricultural system of existence,
- that is practice of hunting and gathering,
- zero or negative population growth,
- extremely low level of literacy in comparison with other tribal groups.
- Groups that satisfied any one of the criterion were considered as PTG.
- There are total of 75 PVTGs in India.
Source – TH