---
title: "Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) — Definition"
description: "Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) are 75 Indian tribes identified for special protection due to acute deprivation and demographic decline."
url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/glossary/particularly-vulnerable-tribal-groups"
---

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Model Diplomat Research Team · Last reviewed June 22, 2026

TL;DR

- Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups are a sub-category of India's Scheduled Tribes identified for targeted protection on the basis of acute deprivation and demographic decline.
- How many PVTGs are there in India and which state has the most?
- What are the four criteria for identifying a PVTG?
- How do PVTGs differ from Scheduled Tribes?
- Why was the category renamed from Primitive Tribal Groups?

[Civil Service & Diplomatic Exams](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/civil-services/glossary)Updated June 22, 2026

Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups are a sub-category of India's Scheduled Tribes identified for targeted protection on the basis of acute deprivation and demographic decline.

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## Positions at a glance

### Supporters

The 75 recognised PVTGs are spread across roughly 18 states and one union territory (the Andaman and Nicobar Islands). Odisha holds the largest number, with 13 PVTGs, followed by Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Bihar and Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu. The principal instrument of support has been the Conservation-cum-Development (CCD) Plan, prepared by states and funded substantially by the Centre, covering housing, drinking water, healthcare, education, livelihood, and land distribution. Funds historically flowed through a dedicated "Development of PVTGs" scheme administered by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. The Forest Rights Act, 2006 (Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act) provides PVTGs a specific protection under Section 3(1)(e), recognising their right to community tenure of habitat and habitation, a stronger entitlement than ordinary individual forest rights.

### Opponents

Identification of a PVTG rests on four cumulative criteria framed by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs: a pre-agricultural level of technology (reliance on hunting, gathering, or shifting cultivation rather than settled agriculture); a stagnant or declining population; an extremely low level of literacy; and a subsistence economy with low gross income. A state or union territory government identifies a community against these criteria and forwards a proposal to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, which, in consultation with the relevant expert bodies, confers the status. Crucially, a group must already be a notified Scheduled Tribe under Article 342 before it can be classified as a PVTG; the PVTG label is a developmental sub-classification, not a separate constitutional category, and therefore creates no new reservation entitlement beyond what the parent ST status already provides.

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Example

In November 2023 the Government of India launched the Pradhan Mantri PVTG Development Mission (PM-JANMAN) with an outlay of about ₹24,000 crore to saturate the habitations of all 75 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups with housing, water, and connectivity.

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