Scheduled Tribes are India's poorest; five of 10 in lowest wealth bracket

Among scheduled caste/tribe boys under five years of age, 32-33% are underweight, compared to 21% in the general population, IndiaSpend reported in October 2017

Scheduled tribes are India’s poorest people, with five of 10 falling in the lowest wealth bracket, according to latest national data.

The National Family Health Survey 2015-16 (NFHS-4) shows the following: 45.9% of scheduled tribe members were in the lowest wealth bracket compared to 26.6% of scheduled castes, 18.3% of other backward caste, 9.7% of other castes and 25.3% of those whose caste is unknown.

There has been a 4 percentage point drop in the percentage of scheduled tribes in the lowest bracket as compared to a decade ago, from 49.9% in 2005-06