Juanga Tribe – Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups 15/06/2019 – Posted in: Daily News

JUANGA TRIBE – PARTICULARLY VULNERABLE TRIBAL GROUPS

 

For: Preliminary

Topic covers: Juanga tribe, Juang Development Agency, PVTG

 

News Flash

The condition of the primitive Juanga tribe in Odisha’s Nagada village, which had shot into the limelight after the death of 19 malnourished children three years ago, has not changed for better.

  • Nagada is part of the Sukinda block of Odisha’s Jajpur district, home to vast mineral wealth.
  • A fact-finding team led by an RTI activist had recently visited Nagada and Guhisala, which comprise of six hamlets. The total population of the hamlets is 579, including 273 children.
  • Odisha has 62 tribes, the highest number among all States and Union Territories in the country, accounting for 22.85 percent of the total population as per the 2011 census. As many as 13 of these tribes have been identified as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs).

 

Malnutrition: It is a condition that results from eating a diet in which one or more nutrients are either not enough or are too much such that the diet causes health problems. It may involve calories, protein, carbohydrates, vitamins or minerals.

 

Juanga Tribe

  • The Juanga’s believe that in ancient times, their tribe emerged from earth on the hills of Gonasika in nearby Kendujhar district from where the river Baitarani originates.
  • The villagers, who have learned to speak Odia apart from their own tribal language, told us they don’t believe in gods or deities and only worship Basumati or Mother Earth.
  • Juangas are one of the 13 particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTG) out of the total 62 tribes found in Odisha.
  • A few tribals of Nagada cultivate rice, corn, and vegetables on top of the hill. The rest work at others’ farmlands in return for some rice.
  • They dig out special roots from the jungle used for making local liquor and sell them at the Saturday market at Deogaon to buy vegetables, rice and salt.
  • Many local government officials claim the villagers feed their children only rice and salt and refuse to feed any vegetables even if it is freely available, leading to malnutrition.
  • Early marriage is a common practice among Juangas, leading to complications among children born out of young parents.

 

Juang Development Agency (JDA)

  • JDA was established in 1975, with its headquarters in Gonasika Hills in Keonjhar district.
  • Still, many of the villages remained outside the purview of the JDA.
  • As do the hamlets on the Nagada hills. They are inaccessible by road — there is only one way to get there, and that is by foot from the hills.

 

Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)

PVTGs are earlier known as Primitive Tribal Group. In 2006 the government of India proposed to rename “Primitive tribal group” as Primitive and vulnerable tribal group”

PVTG reside in 18 States and UT of A&N Islands. There are more than 75 tribal groups recognised by Ministry of Home Affairs as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups.

The features of such a group include a pre-agricultural system of existence, that is practice of hunting and gathering, zero or negative population growth, extremely low level of literacy in comparison with other tribal groups.

 

Source: The Hindu

 

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