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Xaxa Committee Report (2014)

High Level Committee on Socioeconomic, Health and Educational Status of Tribal Communities of India. Chaired by Prof. Virginius Xaxa. Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India. 431 pages of findings, data, and recommendations — extracted and organised by Anthropology syllabus topic.

Ministry of Tribal Affairs · GoI · May 2014 Chairman: Prof. Virginius Xaxa 431 Pages Paper 1 + Paper 2 Relevant

Part I — Paper 2: Indian Anthropology

1. Definition of Tribe & Criteria for Scheduling

Constitutional Framework

Lokur Committee Criteria & Their Colonial Baggage

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Paper 2Definition DebatesST Status
Article 342 created a politico-administrative category distinct from the sociological concept of tribe — Constitution did not define criteria for ST recognition.
Lokur Committee (1965) recommended five criteria: (1) primitive traits, (2) distinct culture, (3) geographical isolation, (4) shyness of contact, (5) general backwardness.
Xaxa critique: these criteria "carry forward paternalistic and pejorative connotations from the colonial era."
272 modifications made to ST list since 2001 Census — the category is continuously contested and politically constructed.
705 individual groups notified as STs (Census 2011). Term 'adivasi' used as political self-reference — not recognised by Government of India.

📌 Cite As

"Some of these criteria carry forward certain paternalistic and pejorative connotations from the colonial era." — Xaxa Committee (2014)

✍ Answer Tip

Use in questions on 'problems of definition of tribe' or 'criteria for ST status.' A GoI-commissioned report critiquing the GoI's own criteria is the strongest possible citation.

Colonial Ethnography

How the Colonial State Constructed 'Tribe'

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Paper 1Paper 2Colonial Anthropology
1881 Census: tribes = 'forest tribes' (sub-category of agricultural castes). 1901 Census: tribes = those who 'practised animism.' 1931: 'primitive tribes.' GoI Act 1935: 'backward tribes.'
Key insight: "Tribes were identified largely in terms of what they were NOT — they did not practice Vedic Hinduism."
Tribal 'isolation' was a colonial construction — marginalisation through unjust forest policies and forced sedentarisation, not natural separation.
Post-colonial state inherited colonial development model — extraction of natural resources from tribal areas for capital accumulation.

📌 Cite As

"Tribes were identified largely in terms of what they were not — they did not practice Vedic Hinduism." — Xaxa Committee (2014)

✍ Answer Tip

For Paper 1 (colonialism and anthropology) and Paper 2 (tribe and Indian civilisation). Shows how knowledge production — census classification — created the very category it claimed to describe.

Core Theoretical Argument

Assimilation Masquerading as Integration — Xaxa's Central Critique

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Paper 1Paper 2Integration vs AssimilationTribal Development
Two colonial discourses: (1) Isolation causes poverty → integrate; (2) Verrier Elwin: outside contact causes impoverishment → protect. Constitution adopted both.
Xaxa's finding: "What the State is actually pursuing in tribal areas — apart from Northeast India — is ASSIMILATION rather than integration, contrary to what is claimed."
Integration = tribal identity protected within national mainstream. Assimilation = cultural domination + erasure of distinctiveness.
"The framework of development is ALIEN to the tribes" — e.g., education in regional language familiar to general population but not to tribals.
"There is a need to re-orient development in tune with tribal culture and to adopt a more humane approach."

📌 Cite As

"What the State is actually pursuing in tribal areas is assimilation rather than integration, contrary to what is claimed." — Xaxa Committee (2014)

✍ Answer Tip

The single most powerful argument in the report. Use for Paper 2: 'tribe and Indian nation-state', 'isolation vs integration debate', 'tribal development policies.' Also directly answers Paper 1 acculturation questions.

2. Demographic Profile of Scheduled Tribes

Census 2011 Data

Key Demographic Statistics

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Paper 2Demographic ProfileStatistics

Total ST Population

10.43 crore = 8.6% of India

ST Groups Notified

705 (Census 2011)

ST Sex Ratio

990 females/1000 males — favourable

ST Growth Rate 2001–11

23.66% vs national 17.64%

Rural ST

11.3% of Indian rural population

Urban ST

Only 2.8% of urban population

Districts with >50% ST

90 districts across India

Districts with 25–50% ST

62 districts

Total districts with STs

543 of India's districts

Most populous tribes: Bhil (1.27 cr), Gond (1.09 cr), Santhal (58.38 lakh), Mina (38 lakh), Oraon (31.42 lakh).
Most concentrated states (% within state): Lakshadweep 94.8%, Mizoram 94.4%, Nagaland 86.5%, Meghalaya 86.1%, Arunachal Pradesh 68.8%.
Largest share of national ST population: MP 14.7%, Maharashtra 10.1%, Odisha 9.2%, Rajasthan 8.9%, Gujarat 8.6%.

✍ Answer Tip

Use sex ratio (990 — favourable) as evidence that some tribal communities have better gender relations than mainstream. Urban ST at 2.8% shows near-complete absence from economic mainstream.

PVTGs

Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups — Population Crisis

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Paper 2PVTGsAndaman TribesStatistics

Birjia (Bihar)

Only 17 persons — smallest PVTG

Sentinelese

39 persons

Great Andamanese

43 persons

Onge

96 persons

Jarawa

240 persons

Shompen

398 persons

75 PVTGs identified across India — pre-agricultural technology, extremely low literacy, subsistence economy, stagnant/declining population.

📌 Cite As

Xaxa Committee (2014): PVTGs with population less than 1000 persons — Birjia (Bihar) with only 17 persons (Census 2001).

✍ Answer Tip

The specific population numbers for Andaman tribes carry maximum impact. Birjia at 17 persons is the most dramatic figure for any question on tribal endangerment or extinction.

3. Tribal Economy, Livelihoods & Poverty

Agrarian Economy

Increasing Landlessness & The Resource Paradox

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Paper 2Tribal EconomyPovertyStatistics

ST in Primary Sector

>80% vs 53% general population

ST Cultivators (2001)

Declined to 45% from 68%

ST Agricultural Labourers

Rose to 37% from ~20%

Leaving agriculture/decade

~3.5 million tribal people

ST BPL 1993–94

63.7% vs national 45.7%

ST BPL 2004–05

60.0% vs national 37.7%

Odisha tribal BPL 2004–05

75.6% — highest in India

Jharkhand tribal BPL 2004–05

54.2%

Resource Paradox: Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand = 70% of India's coal, 80% high-grade iron ore, 60% bauxite, ~100% chromite — yet have highest tribal poverty.
~60% of India's forest cover is in tribal districts. 51 of 58 districts with >67% forest cover are tribal districts.
About 50% of top mineral-producing districts are tribal districts.

📌 Cite As

"The number of STs who were cultivators declined from over 68% to 45% in 2001 whereas agricultural labourers increased from about 20% to 37%, demonstrating increasing landlessness." — Xaxa Committee (2014)

✍ Answer Tip

The cultivator→labourer shift captures proletarianisation of tribal economy. The Jharkhand/Odisha poverty-despite-resources paradox is the most powerful structural argument in the report.

Land Alienation

Mishra Study: Scale & Methods of Tribal Land Loss

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Paper 2Land AlienationStatistics

Tribal HHs that lost land

21.95% of sample

Land lost

24.69% of total tribal land

Tribal→non-tribal transfers

85.95% of all transfers

Tribal HHs in debt

82.11% of surveyed HHs

Unaware of protective laws

>85% of tribal HHs

Eight methods of fraudulent transfer: sale, mortgage, benami transfer, forcible occupation, oral transfer, marital alliance, in name of concubines, other fraudulent means.
Main cause: prolonged indebtedness — medical expenses, religious obligations, litigation, alcoholism.

📌 Cite As

Xaxa Committee (2014) citing Mishra (2002): "85.95% of all land transfers were tribal to non-tribal. More than 85% of tribal HHs were unaware of laws protecting their land."

✍ Answer Tip

Legal protection without awareness is meaningless — this data makes that case empirically. Use in PESA/FRA implementation questions or land rights questions.

4. Displacement & Land Alienation

Development-Induced Displacement

Scale of Displacement & Rehabilitation Failure

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Paper 2DisplacementTribal MovementsStatistics

Total displaced (Fernandes)

~60 million since independence

ST % of dam-displaced

40% (ST = only 8.6% of population)

Expert Group estimate

47% of all development-displaced are ST

Researchers estimate

~25% of India's tribals become DP/PAP at least once

DPs rehabilitated 1951–90

Only 25%. 75% unrehabilitated.

ST in unrehab. backlog

6.42 million of 15.92 million total

Land displaced from

25 million ha incl. 7 mn ha forests

13-state data: 20.41 million DPs/PAPs — ST = 30.70%, Dalits = 15.65%, Others = 38.24%.
Coal India (since 1973): Tribals lost 13,956.84 ha but received only 91.16 ha in R&R — ratio 153:1. Only 10,097 given jobs.
Andhra Pradesh: Adivasis = 76.1% of DPs but only 6.99% of state population.
Samatha Judgment (1997): mining leases to private industry in Scheduled Areas = null and void. But "both the Fifth Schedule and Samatha judgment could not protect tribal interests."

📌 Cite As

Xaxa Committee (2014): "Tribal people lost 13,956 hectares but were given only 91.16 hectares under R&R." — Coal India data since 1973.

✍ Answer Tip

The Coal India data is the most specific and damning. Andhra Pradesh 76.1% figure shows starkest disproportionality. Use 60 million total for scale.

Sacred Ecology

Land as Sacred Identity — Not Just Economic Asset

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Paper 1Paper 2Sacred EcologyHuman Ecology
"Land is the basis of tribal socio-cultural and religious identity, livelihood and their very existence. Their God and guardian spirits reside in hills, forests, groves."
"Forest and hills are the main source of tribal identity."
Displacement = destruction of sacred landscape = cultural death, not merely economic loss.
Traditional community ownership of land — not individual title — underpins egalitarian social relations and kinship organisation.

📌 Cite As

"Land is the basis of tribal socio-cultural and religious identity, livelihood and their very existence. Their God and guardian spirits reside in hills, forests, groves." — Xaxa Committee (2014)

✍ Answer Tip

Directly applicable to Paper 1 human ecology / sacred groves / tribe-nature relationship questions. An official GoI report validating the sacred ecology framework is rare and powerful.

Left-Wing Extremism

Xaxa's Fourth Perspective on LWE

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Paper 2Tribal MovementsGovernance
9 LWE-affected states — 6 have Scheduled districts. 83 LWE districts — 42 have Scheduled Areas.
Three conventional perspectives: (1) national security/military, (2) development deficit, (3) combination.
Xaxa's Fourth Perspective: "Explicit recognition that there has been subversion of the law by BOTH government and corporations to appropriate tribal resources, and that this situation needs to be rectified."
"A large section of tribal heartlands have lost faith in the ability of the law and willingness of the administration to protect their interests."
"Any solution should begin with confidence-building measures through the redress of past wrongs and the guarantee of justice."

📌 Cite As

"Any solution should begin with confidence-building measures through the redress of past wrongs and the guarantee of justice." — Xaxa Committee (2014) on LWE.

✍ Answer Tip

Transforms LWE from a security problem to a justice problem. Use for essay questions on internal security, tribal unrest, or tribal movements. The four-perspective framework is analytically elegant.

5. Health Status of Scheduled Tribes

Mortality & Fertility

Mortality Indicators — The Health Gap

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Paper 2Health StatusStatistics

IMR — Census 2001

88 vs 68 national — 30% higher

U5MR — Census 2001

129 vs 96 national — 35% higher

IMR — NFHS-3 (2005–06)

62.1/1000 (ST) vs 48.9 (others)

U5MR — NFHS-3

95.7/1000 ST — 61% higher than non-ST

1–4 year mortality

33.6 (ST) vs 10.3 (non-ST)

Life expectancy (ST)

60.9 years; range 55–68.6

IMR reduction 1992–98

Only 10% (ST) vs 25% (general)

TFR (ST)

3.1 vs 2.4 for non-ST (NFHS-3)

✍ Answer Tip

The 1–4 year mortality (33.6 vs 10.3 — over three times) is the most shocking number. The IMR reduction gap (10% vs 25%) shows health programmes reach tribals last and least.

Disease Burden & Nutrition

Triple Disease Burden + Nutritional Anthropometry

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Paper 1Paper 2Nutritional AnthropometryStatistics
Three disease types simultaneously:
A) Diseases of underdevelopment: malnutrition, malaria, TB, leprosy, diarrhoea, hepatitis, maternal/child health problems.
B) ST-specific diseases: Sickle Cell Disease (hemoglobinopathy), G-6PD deficiency, snake bites, animal bites.
C) Diseases of modernity: hypertension, high tobacco/alcohol, stress, diabetes — especially in conflict zones.

Underweight (1–5 yr children)

52% ST vs 43% rural average

Stunted (1–5 yr children)

55% ST vs 49% rural average

Wasted (1–5 yr children)

22% ST vs 19% rural average

Hypertension (ST adults)

25% men, 23% women

Hypertension awareness

Only 8.4% of tribal adults

Tobacco use (ST men)

72% vs 56% non-ST men

NNMB sample size

1,15,113 individuals — 9 states

📌 Cite As

Xaxa Committee (2014): "STs suffer from diseases of underdevelopment, diseases peculiar to ST population (Sickle Cell), and diseases of modernity (hypertension, tobacco, alcohol) — simultaneously."

✍ Answer Tip

The triple burden framework is theoretically elegant. For Paper 1 biological anthropology: NNMB's nutritional anthropometry of 1.15 lakh individuals is the largest such tribal study — mention the methodology.

6. Education

Education

Literacy Gap, Language Barrier & Demilitarisation

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Paper 2EducationCultural Rights

ST Literacy (2001)

47% vs 69% national — 22 pt gap

Language barrier: taught in state official language from day one — creates cognitive alienation. Recommendation: early education in mother tongue/local language.
Cultural mismatch: curriculum ignores tribal history, culture, folklore — makes education feel alien.
Residential schools: sexual abuse and exploitation documented — strong protection mechanisms needed.
Demilitarisation of schools: "No schools or areas in the immediate vicinity of schools should be occupied by security forces or police, as has been the case in conflict zones."
No-detention policy: recommend review — when parents/teachers request retention, child should be retained.

📌 Cite As

"Demilitarisation of schools is vital in order to restore schools as a place of safety, security and scholarship for students." — Xaxa Committee (2014)

✍ Answer Tip

Demilitarisation recommendation is striking and specific — shows depth of knowledge. Mother tongue education is a rights-based argument that connects to linguistic anthropology.

7. Legal & Constitutional Framework

Constitutional Provisions

Fifth vs Sixth Schedule — Why Northeast Fares Better

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Paper 2Fifth ScheduleSixth ScheduleGovernance
Fifth Schedule (mainland tribal areas): Governor's special powers + TAC. Xaxa finding: Governors have rarely exercised their constitutional powers to protect tribal interests.
Sixth Schedule (Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram): Autonomous District Councils with legislative, judicial, administrative powers.
Northeast tribes have NOT experienced displacement/land alienation at the same scale as mainland tribes — attributed significantly to Sixth Schedule protections.
Key Recommendation: Extend Sixth Schedule PATTERN to Fifth Schedule areas through Autonomous Councils.
PESA (1996): States' rules not compliant with the Act. Gram Sabha consent for land acquisition not being taken.
FRA (2006): Community Forest Rights largely unrecognised or rejected. Progressive law, poor implementation.
Samatha Judgment (1997): Private mining in Scheduled Areas = null and void. But "Fifth Schedule and Samatha could not protect tribal communities."

📌 Cite As

"In view of these powers of political autonomy, tribal communities in the Northeast have fared much better in respect of socio-economic, educational and health status." — Xaxa Committee (2014) on Sixth Schedule.

✍ Answer Tip

Fifth vs Sixth Schedule comparison is a perennial exam topic. Xaxa provides empirical evidence — Northeast's better outcomes — for why decentralised autonomous governance works better than centralised protection.

Part II — Paper 1: Theoretical Anthropology

8. Paper 1 Connections

Political Anthropology

Fifth/Sixth Schedule as Models of Tribal Governance

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Paper 1Political AnthropologyTribe and State
Fifth Schedule = centralised protective model — Governor mediates between State and tribal community. Weak in practice.
Sixth Schedule = autonomous governance model — Councils legislate, adjudicate, administer independently. Stronger in practice.
PESA + Gram Sabha = attempt to extend participatory governance — but implementation gap shows law alone insufficient.
Xaxa: empirical test that autonomous self-governance (Northeast) outperforms centralised protection (mainland) in health, education, displacement outcomes.

✍ Answer Tip

For Paper 1 political anthropology: these are real-world cases of different models of tribal political organisation and their outcomes. Rare to have GoI empirical evidence at this scale.

Culture Change

Acculturation, Assimilation & Integration — Theory in Practice

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Paper 1AcculturationCulture Change
Xaxa distinguishes: assimilation (erasure of tribal identity through absorption) vs. integration (tribal identity retained while joining national mainstream).
Two intellectual traditions: Elwin (isolation/protection) vs. Nehru/mainstream (integration through development) — both influenced post-independence policy in different directions.
State pursues assimilation while claiming integration — "development framework is alien to the tribes."
Constitutional intent: integration with protection. State practice: assimilation without protection.

📌 Cite As

"There is a need to re-orient development in tune with tribal culture and to adopt a more humane approach to tribal development." — Xaxa Committee (2014)

✍ Answer Tip

Direct application to Paper 1 acculturation concepts. Xaxa provides the empirical grounding for otherwise theoretical distinctions between acculturation, assimilation and integration.

Biological Anthropology

Nutritional Anthropometry & Hereditary Diseases

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Paper 1Biological AnthropologyNutritional AnthropometryStatistics
NNMB Survey: 1,15,113 individuals covered for nutritional anthropometry, clinical examination — from 40,359 households in 1032 villages across 9 states.
Measures: weight-for-age, height-for-age (stunting), weight-for-height (wasting) — compared against WHO/NCHS standards.
52% underweight, 55% stunted, 22% wasted among 1–5 year tribal children — all exceed rural averages.
Sickle Cell Disease: hereditary hemoglobinopathy specifically prevalent in tribal populations — genetic adaptation to malaria-endemic zones.
G-6PD deficiency also prevalent — another genetic variant common in tribal populations.
Nutrient intake declined from 1998–99 to 2007–08 despite economic growth — food gap remains.

📌 Cite As

Xaxa Committee (2014) citing NNMB (2009): "52% of 1–5 year tribal children underweight, 55% stunted, 22% wasted — all exceeding rural population rates." — survey of 1,15,113 individuals.

✍ Answer Tip

Mention the sample size (1.15 lakh) — it signals the largest population-level nutritional anthropometry study of tribals. Sickle Cell as genetic adaptation to malaria is a strong Paper 1 biological anthropology point.

Ready Phrases & Quick Reference

9. Ready-to-Use Sentences for Answers

Copy-Adapt for Answers

Ready Phrases — All Topics

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"As the Xaxa Committee (2014) found, tribes inhabit 60% of India's forest cover yet are treated as encroachers on their own land under colonial-era forest laws."
"The Xaxa Report's central finding is that India is pursuing assimilation masquerading as integration — the constitutional promise of protecting tribal identity is being systematically violated."
"The resource paradox documented by Xaxa: states with the highest mineral wealth (Jharkhand, Odisha) have the highest tribal poverty — 75.6% BPL in Odisha despite housing 80% of India's high-grade iron ore."
"Xaxa (2014) advocates a fourth perspective on LWE — beyond security and development — that acknowledges State and corporate subversion of law as the root cause of tribal unrest."
"The Lokur criteria — primitive traits, geographical isolation, shyness of contact — embed colonial evolutionism within post-colonial administration. As Xaxa notes, they carry paternalistic and pejorative connotations."
"Land is not merely an economic asset for tribal communities — as Xaxa (2014) documents, it is the site of sacred groves, ancestral spirits and cosmological identity. Its alienation is therefore cultural death, not merely economic loss."
"Of the 15.92 million unrehabilitated displaced persons, 6.42 million are tribals — development has been built on the backs of those least able to resist." (Xaxa Committee, 2014)
"The Sixth Schedule, by providing genuine political autonomy through Autonomous District Councils, has protected Northeast tribes from displacement and land alienation — Xaxa provides empirical evidence for decentralised self-governance as superior to centralised protection."

10. Quick Reference — All Key Numbers

All Numbers in One Place

Complete Statistics Table

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Demographics
ST population (2011)10.43 crore = 8.6%
ST groups notified705
Smallest PVTGBirjia, Bihar — 17 persons
ST sex ratio990 females/1000 males (favourable)
ST growth rate 2001–1123.66% vs national 17.64%
ST in urban areasOnly 2.8%
Economy & Poverty
ST in primary sector>80% vs 53% national
ST cultivators (2001)Declined to 45% from 68%
ST agricultural labourersRose to 37% from ~20%
ST BPL (1993–94)63.7% vs national 45.7%
ST BPL (2004–05)60.0% vs national 37.7%
Odisha tribal BPL75.6% — highest
Forest in tribal areas~60% of India's total
Mineral wealth (Odisha/CG/JH)70% coal, 80% iron ore, 60% bauxite
Health
IMR (Census 2001)88 vs 68 national — 30% higher
U5MR (Census 2001)129 vs 96 national — 35% higher
U5MR (NFHS-3)95.7 (ST) — 61% higher than non-ST
1–4 year mortality33.6 (ST) vs 10.3 (non-ST)
ST literacy (2001)47% vs 69% national
Underweight children (1–5 yr)52% (ST) vs 43% rural
Stunted children (1–5 yr)55% (ST) vs 49% rural
Hypertension awarenessOnly 8.4% tribal adults
Tobacco use (ST men)72% vs 56% non-ST men
Displacement
% dam-displaced who are ST40% (ST = only 8.6% population)
Total DPs/PAPs estimate~60 million (Fernandes)
% development-displaced who are ST47% (Expert Group)
DPs unrehabilitated75% (1951–1990)
ST in unrehab. backlog6.42 mn of 15.92 mn total
Coal India: tribal land taken13,956 ha vs 91.16 ha given in R&R
Unaware of land protection laws>85% tribal HHs