DEVELOPMENT IN TRIBAL AREAS OF WEST GODAVARI DISTRICT, ANDHRA PRADESH: PERSPECTIVES, PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS

Abstract

India bas the second largest concentratIOn of tribal populatIOn, after that of the Afhcan contment Trlbals are the 'autochthonous' people of the land who are beheved to be the earliest settlers m the IndIan perunsuJa (Veona 1990 1·7) They have been neglected In IsolatIOn all th rough the centunes They are generally called as adrvaSIS Implymg 'abongmals' or 'ongmal mhabltants' The trlbals were Included under 'arumlsts', 'forest trtbes', 'hIli tnbes' and 'depressed classes' up to 1921 census reports Later, the indian franchIse committee accorded a separate nomenclature for tnba1 groups m the census reports of 1931 as 'primitIve tribes', III 1941 as 'tribes' and after 1951 census onwards as 'scheduled trIbes' (STs) (Verma 1996 10·14)