INTEGRATED TRIBAL DEVELOPMENT AGENCY

A detailed and comprehensive review of the tribal peoples’ problem was taken up on the eve of the Fifth Five Year Plan period. The main objective of ITDA is socio-economic development of tribal communities through income generating schemes allied with Infrastructure Development programmes and protection of the tribal communities against exploitation.

The ITDA project areas are generally contiguous areas of the size of a Tehsil or Block or more in which the ST population is 50% or more of the total. Due to the demographic profile of the tribal people in these regions, however, the ITDPs in Assam, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal may be smaller or not contiguous. Andhra Pradesh and Orissa have opted for an Agency model under the Registration of Societies Act and the ITDPs there are known as ITD Agencies (ITDAs).

So far, 194 ITDPs / ITDAs have been delineated in the country. In Jammu and Kashmir though no ITDP has been delineated yet, the areas having ST Population in the State are treated as covered under the TSP strategy. In eight states having scheduled areas the ITDPs / ITDAs are generally co-terminus with TSP areas. The ITDPs / ITDAs are headed by Project Officers though they may be designated Project Administrators or Project Directors.

Modified Area Development Approach (MADA) pockets

These are identified pockets of concentration of ST population containing 50% or more ST population within a total population of minimum of 10,000. The total number of MADAs identified so far in the various TSP States is 259. Generally, MADA pockets do not have separate administrative structures to implement development programmes. The line Departments of the State Govt. are expected to implement development programmes in MADA pockets under the overall control of the District authorities.

Clusters

These are identified pockets of tribal concentration containing 50% or more ST population within a total population of about 5,000 or more. As in the case of MADA pockets, there are no separate administrative structures for Clusters. So far 82 Clusters have been identified in various T.S.P. states

Primitive Tribal Groups

Primitive tribal groups are tribal communities among the STs who live in near isolation in inaccessible habitats. They are characterised by a low rate of growth of population and extremely low levels of literacy. So far 75 PTGs have been identified.

 

S.No	States/U. T.s		No. of ITDPs/IIDAs	MADA Pockets	Clusters	Primitive Tribal Groups
1	Andhra Pradesh		8	41	17	12
2	Assam		19	-	-	-
3	Bihar		14	41	7	-
4	Gujarat		9	1	-	5
5	Himachal Pradesh		5	2	-	-
6	Jammu & Kashmir		-	-	-	-
7	Karnataka		5	-	-	2
8	Kerala		7	-	-	5
9	Madhya Pradesh		49	39	8	7
10	Maharashtra		16	44	24	3
11	Manipur		5	-	-	1
12	Orissa		21	46	14	13
13	Rajasthan		5	44	11	1
14	Sikkim		4	-	-	t
15	Tamil Nadu		9	-	-	6
16	Tripura		3	-	-	1
17	Uttar Pradesh		1	1	-	2
18	West Bengal		12	-	1	3
19	A & N Islands		1	-	-	5
20	Daman & Diu		1	-	-	-
	Total		194	259	82	75