In 2019, Centre introduced a sub-quota of 5% for the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) in admissions to Eklavya Model Residential Schools.
But the recent data show that schools are struggling to meet this quota with just 3.4% of all EMRS students belonging to PVTG communities.
Of the 1,30,101 students enrolled into all 407 functional EMRSs as of October this year, 4,480 belong to PVTG communities.
Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Gujarat were struggling to meet the 5% PVTG student quota.
In Madhya Pradesh, PVTG students account for 3.8% of the total students, in Chhattisgarh they comprise 2.74% of the student population.
In Gujarat, just 21 students out of the total 10,688 students belong to PVTG communities.
In Tamil Nadu’s EMRSs, PVTGs comprise 8.36% of total students; in Jharkhand, this percentage is at 7.48%; and in Andhra Pradesh, it is 12.91%.
According to the very latest available population estimates, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Tamil Nadu are the States with the greatest number of PVTGs.