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The Constitution has offi cially designated all the tribal societies as scheduled tribes. While the census information has been benefi cial for administrative and developmental purposes, it suffers from several limitations, one of them being the use of fl awed defi nitions. Moreover, the offi cial term ST does not take into account the fact that the tribal societies are distinct and different from each other in many respects. The census, by applying the umbrella term ST for the purpose of enumeration, fails to capture the realities of the social worlds inhabited by these societies, and hence cannot provide correct information on the actual status of the STs.
INSIGHT
Scheduled Tribes and the Census: A Sociological Inquiry
A K Nongkynrih
In the first part, the article examines the term tribe and scheduled tribe. The second part discusses the social relevance of the census and ST, followed by the conclusion. The subject matt
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