Official Answer Key & Detailed Solution
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Correct Answer: Option (B) — North-East India accounts for a little over half of the country's tribal population.
Concept & Option Breakdown
Standard Reference VerifiedStatement (b) is incorrect: North-East India accounts for only about 12-15% of India's total Scheduled Tribe population. The majority (over 80%) live in Central India (Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh).
Statements (a), (c), and (d) are correct:
- The Constitution of India does not provide an explicit definition for Scheduled Tribes; Article 342 empowers the President to specify them.
- Todas are a pastoral tribe inhabiting the Nilgiri Hills of Tamil Nadu.
- Lotha is a Naga tribe and language spoken in Wokha district of Nagaland.
Extreme statistical claim: North-East states have a high percentage of tribals locally, but their share in absolute numbers across India is relatively small compared to heavily populated Central Indian states.
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