Paper short abstract:

This paper describes findings of the impact of socio-economic, health and nutritional factors on the quality of life of the tribal people in general and elderly in particular in Himalayan region

Paper long abstract:

The tribal population in India which was 30.1 million in 1961, has increased to 84.3 million in the year 2001 , constituting 8.2% of the total population with 91.7% of them living in rural areas and 8.3% in urban areas. The population of tribes had grown at the growth rate of 24.45% during 1991-2001. More than half of the Scheduled Tribe population is concentrated in the States of Madhya Pradesh (14.51), Maharashtra (10.17), Orissa (9.66), Gujarat (8.87), Rajasthan (8.42) and Jharkhand (8.4). Tribal communities live in about 15% of the country's areas, in various ecological and geo-climatic conditions ranging from plains and forests to hills and inaccessible areas. Tribal groups are at different stages of social, economic and educational development. While some tribal communities have adopted a mainstream way of life, at the other end of the spectrum, there are certain Scheduled Tribes, 75 in number known as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs). The tribal communities in the country face various problems such as land alienation, poverty and indebtedness, health & nutrition, education and cultural problems. So, the present paper focuses on the study of various factors including literacy rate, socio-economic status, healthcare, nutrition, employment etc. , their impact and the challenges on the quality of life of the tribal people in Himalayan region. Special focus has also been given to quality of life of aged persons in tribal communities.

Keywords: Quality of Life, Tribal People, Himalyan Region, Literacy Rate.