Published Paper Details:

India is home to the largest population of indigenous peoples of any country in the world. Roughly a quarter of the world’s indigenous population – around 80 million people – are scattered across India, their numbers a staggering diversity of ethnicities, cultures and socio-economic situations. They range from some of the last uncontested indigenous communities in the world, such as the Gonds and Santals of central India. They include not only communities who live under conditions of extreme destitution, but also communities with social indicators well above the national average. But across circumstances and areas, like other indigenous communities around the world, India’s indigenous peoples do share one characteristic – social, political and economic marginalization. In India, 461 ethnic groups are recognized as Scheduled Tribes. These are considered to be India’s indigenous peoples. In mainland India, the Scheduled Tribes are usually referred to as Adivasis, which literally means indigenous peoples. With an estimated population of 84.3 million, they comprise 8.2% of the total population. There are, however, many more ethnic groups that would qualify for Scheduled Tribe status but which are not officially recognized. Estimates of the total number of tribal groups are as high as 635. The largest concentrations of indigenous peoples are found in the seven states of north-east India, and the so-called “central tribal belt” stretching from Rajasthan to West Bengal. The main themes of the paper is the rights of indigenous with special reference to education media and employment and the major issues related to achieve those rights.