Aayu Publications

India having the largest concentration of tribal population anywhere in the world except perhaps Africa is the motherland of seven hundred five (with overlapping communities in more than one state) tribes. From ancient times, primitive people have been the subject matter of special interest and anthropologists are very much concerned about them. Evan Pritchard characterized them as primitive people who are small in numbers, territory and the range of social contacts as compared to advanced society on the parameters of use of technology, economy and little specialization of social functions. The study team on tribal development programme (1969) Shilu AO Team discerned marks of imbalanced development among the tribal communities. A large number of communities continue to live in extremely backward condition. The word ‘development’ implies orderly movement of an organism or a social system from a lower level of functioning to a higher level of functioning and integration. Development is also a product of conscious maturity as well as that of conscious guidance through education. Tribal development strategy took a special turn on the eve of the 4 th Five year plan due to special emphasis on the Primitive Tribal Groups and this book will emphasize on this target population. Among the total 74 PTGs in India, West Bengal claims only three. The book mainly focuses over the ethnographic profiles of the three communities, their past and present socio-cultural status, customs and rituals. On the other hand, the book narrates the tribal developmental planning and initiatives from the governmental side. The implementation of the policies and its effectiveness through the comparative study of the situation of three PTGs of West Bengal is an interesting outcome of the book. The book is very useful to the researchers and students of social science especially for the researchers who keep interest in tribal studies.