Mankidia tribe is from Odisha and was in news because it has been denied habitat rights inside core area of Simlipal Tiger Reserve in Odisha under historic Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006.

• Mankidia is one of the 13 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) and is a marginalized group that critically depends on making rope with siali fibre that’s richly available in Simlipal.

PVTGs are more vulnerable among the tribal groups. The PVTG identification began in 1975 and declared 52 such groups.

• In 1993, 23 groups were added to it making the total count of such groups as 75.
• The PVTGs are spread across 17 states and 1 UT in the country as per 2011 census.
• Odisha has highest number of PVTGs as 13 followed by Andhra Pradesh (12).

PVTG was recently in news because Mankidia tribe from Odisha which is a PVTG was denied habitat right inside Simlipal Tiger Reserve in Odisha. It is the second largest national park in India and is also a part of UNESCO World Network of Biosphere Reserves since 2009.