Context: World Tribal Day or International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples is observed on 9th August every year.
Key Points

• Aim: The day is aimed at promoting and protecting the rights of the world’s indigenous population and to acknowledge the contributions that indigenous people make towards world issues such as environmental protection.
• The day recognizes the first meeting of the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations in Geneva in 1982.
• It has been celebrated every year since 1994, in accordance with the declaration by the United Nations.
• Theme 2020: “Covid-19 and the indigenous peoples’ resilience”

Background

• There are an estimated 370 million indigenous people in the world, living across 90 countries.
• They make up less than 5 percent of the world’s population but account for 15 percent of the poorest.
• They speak an overwhelming majority of the world’s estimated 7,000 languages and represent 5,000 different cultures.
• Indigenous peoples are inheritors and practitioners of unique cultures and ways of relating to people and the environment.
• They have retained social, cultural, economic and political characteristics that are distinct from those of the dominant societies in which they live.
• Indigenous peoples have sought recognition of their identities, their way of life and their right to traditional lands, territories and natural resources for years, yet throughout history, their rights have always been violated.
• Indigenous peoples today, are arguably among the most disadvantaged and vulnerable groups of people in the world.

Tribes in India

• According to the 2011 census, tribals make up 8.6% of India's population.
• There are over 700 tribal groups in India, out of which around 75 are Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs).
• The Gond comprise the largest tribal group of India
• The largest number of tribal communities (62) are found in Odisha.
• No Tribe identified in Haryana, Punjab, Chandigarh, Delhi, and Puducherry.

Constitutional Provisions

• Article 342(1): The President may with respect to any State or Union Territory, and where it is a State, after consultation with the Governor, by a public notification, specify the tribes or tribal communities or part of or groups within tribes or tribal communities as Scheduled Tribe in relation to that State or Union Territory.
• Article 15: Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth only.
• Article 16: Equality of opportunity in matters of public employment
• Article 46: Promotion of educational and economic interests of scheduled castes, Scheduled tribes and other weaker sections,
• Article 335: Claims of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to services and posts.
• As per Article 338-A of the Constitution of India, the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes has been set-up.
• 5th and 6th Schedule: Administration and control of Scheduled and Tribal Areas.

Legal Provisions

• Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 against Untouchability.
• Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 to prevent the commission of offences of atrocities against the members of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.
• Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 to provide for the extension of the provisions of Part IX of the Constitution relating to the Panchayats to the Scheduled Areas.
• Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 to recognize and vest the forest rights and occupation in forest land in forest dwelling scheduled tribes and other traditional forest dwellers.
• Committees Related to Tribal Communities: Xaxa Committee (2013); Bhuria Commission (2002-2004); Lokur Committee (1965)