Poverty and Under-nutrition among Scheduled Tribes in India: A Disaggregated Analysis

This paper addresses twin issues--- poverty and under-nutrition among the STs in India at disaggregated levels. Following the draft tribal policy, districts in Schedule VI states as well districts under Schedule V have been identified. The district level poverty incidence and incidence of hunger and under-nutrition for the districts are calculated for 1993-94 and 2004-05. Normative calorie requirement for STs is estimated using age-sex-activity patterns as recommended in the Task Force report (GOI, 1979). In these calculations, unit record data on household Consumption Expenditure and Employment and Unemployment for 50th and 61st quinquennial rounds have been used. The analysis in this paper suggests that group dominance plays an important role in participation in growth and distribution and improving the level of living.