Juanga Tribe : In News
The District Level Committee of Keonjhar in Odisha cleared the hurdle for habitat rights under the Forest Rights Act (FRA) to the Juanga, a particularly vulnerable tribal group, by approving the claim recently.
- Juanga Tribe is an indigenous community in India concentrated in Odisha’s Keonjhar district.
- It is one of the 13 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTG) of the total 62 tribes found in Odisha.
- Originally known as Patuas because of their traditional attire of leaf skirts, the Juang now prefer clothing bought from local markets.
- Originally practitioners of shifting cultivation, some of them are now moving to settled agriculture.
- Hunting is done occasionally, and Juangs of Pallahara are skilled basket weavers also.
- They are skilled in the making of decorative combs and tobacco cases and have also taken to domesticating fowl, pigs, goats and cows to supplement their income.
- They have retained their effective traditional political council.
- Pradhan is the formal headman of the political council, the post of which is not hereditary, and any senior person having manoeuvring capacity can be selected by the villagers.
- Pradhan is expected to offer the final decision in aII secular matters.
- Odisha has a 47,095 Juang population as per the Census 2011.
