Points to remember
The total population of Scheduled Tribes is 10.43 crore as per the Census 2011 which accounts for 8.6% of the total population of the country. The share of the Scheduled Tribe population in urban areas is a meagre 2.8%.
- Madhya Pradesh, Maharastra, Orissa, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, and Karnataka are the State having a larger number of Scheduled Tribes These states account for 83.2% of the total Scheduled Tribe population of the country. Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Jammu & Kashmir, Tripura, Mizoram, Bihar, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu, accounting for another 15.3% of the total Scheduled Tribe population. The share of the remaining states / Uts is negligible.
- The Scheduled Tribes in India form the largest proportion of the total population in Lakshadweep and Mizoram followed by Nagaland and Meghalaya.
- Madhya Pradesh has the largest number of scheduled Tribes followed by Orissa.
- Bastar district of Chattisgarh consists of the largest number of Scheduled Tribes.
- There are no Scheduled Tribes in Punjab, Delhi, Chandigarh, Pondicherry, Haryana.
- In Lok Sabha, there is a reservation of seats for Scheduled Tribes. Here also census figures are taken into account. Allocation of seats for Scheduled Tribes in the Lok Sabha are made on the basis of the proportion of Scheduled Tribes in the State concerned to that of the total population, vide provision contained in Article 330 of the Constitution of India read with Section 3 of the R. P. Act, 1950.
- For Scheduled Tribes, 47 seats are reserved in Lok Sabha. The 1st schedule to R. P. Act, 1950 as amended vide Representation of People (Amendment) Act, 2008 gives the Statewise break up