Which one of the following Scheduled Tribes is found in the maximum number of districts in Uttar Pradesh?

The correct answer is C, Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups. These are communities within the Scheduled Tribes that are the least developed on four counts: a pre-agricultural level of technology, a stagnant or declining population, extremely low literacy and a subsistence economy. Seventy-five such groups have been identified, spread over 18 states and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Odisha has the largest number with thirteen. They were called Primitive Tribal Groups until the name was changed in 2006 because the older word was considered derogatory. A and B are wrong because the first word is Particularly, not Periodic; nothing about the category is periodic. B and D are also wrong because the second word is Vulnerable, which is the whole point of the classification, not Various.

The correct answer is C, 2024. The Pradhan Mantri Janjatiya Unnat Gram Abhiyan was announced in the Union Budget of 2024-25 and approved by the Union Cabinet in 2024 as a mission to saturate tribal-majority villages and aspirational blocks with basic facilities such as housing, roads, water, electricity, health and education, working through the convergence of many existing central schemes. A, 2022, and D, 2023, come before the mission existed; 2023 is the year of the separate PM-JANMAN mission for Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group habitations, which is the usual trap in this question. B, 2025, is later than the approval. Candidates should fix the pair in memory: PM-JANMAN in 2023 for PVTG habitations, and the Janjatiya Unnat Gram Abhiyan in 2024 for tribal-majority villages. Note also that the mission is run by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs in convergence with other ministries, so a question may ask for the nodal ministry instead of the year.

The correct answer is A, Nilgiri Hills. The Toda are a small pastoral community of the Nilgiri plateau in Tamil Nadu, known for their barrel-vaulted huts, their sacred buffalo herds and their dairy-centred religion; they are also classed as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group. B is wrong because the Garo Hills of Meghalaya belong to the Garo, a matrilineal tribe, along with the Khasi and Jaintia of the neighbouring hills. C is wrong because the Aravalli range of Rajasthan and Gujarat is Bhil, Mina and Garasia country, not Toda. D is wrong because the Chota Nagpur plateau of Jharkhand is the home of the Santhal, Munda, Oraon and Ho. The Toda, Kota, Irula and Kurumba together make up the classic Nilgiri set that examiners pair with Tamil Nadu.

The correct answer is C, Article 342. Under it the President may, by public notification and after consulting the Governor of the state concerned, specify the tribes or tribal communities that shall be deemed Scheduled Tribes for that state or Union Territory, and only Parliament may thereafter include or exclude a community, by law. A is wrong because Article 330 reserves seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Lok Sabha. B is wrong because Article 338A, added by the 89th Amendment Act of 2003, sets up the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes. D is wrong because Article 244 brings in the Fifth and Sixth Schedules, which govern Scheduled Areas and the tribal areas of the North East. Remember the pair: Article 341 for Scheduled Castes and Article 342 for Scheduled Tribes.

The correct answer is B, Andaman Islands. The Jarawa live on the western coasts of South and Middle Andaman, and the Sentinelese on North Sentinel Island, which lies in the Andaman group; both are Negrito communities and both are Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups, as are the Onge of Little Andaman and the Great Andamanese. A is wrong because Lakshadweep has no such hunting and gathering community; its population is overwhelmingly Muslim and of mainland and Maldivian descent, though notified as Scheduled Tribe. C is wrong because the Nicobar group is home to the Nicobarese and the Shompen of Great Nicobar, not the Jarawa. D is wrong because the Sundarbans of West Bengal has no tribe of this kind. The island pairing is a standard one-mark question.