A guide for constructing and using composite indicators for policy makers, academics, the media and other interested parties. In particular, this handbook is concerned with indicators which compare and rank country performance.

A plethora of literature is available and various studies have been undertaken on different aspects of tribal development. But very few on the analysis of tribal problems vis-à-vis programmes/policies for their development has remained more or less unexplored. The present study has attempted to plug this critical gap. In this book the author has delved deeper into the genesis of tribal problems, critically examined the programmes for their development in the past and present and offered some valuable insights for lifting them out of the morass of poverty and stagnation. It has traced successive shifts in tribal development policies and strategies at different points of time. A thumbnail picture has been presented on impact of the programmes on the stakeholders through case studies conducted in a remote district of a poverty ridden state. The results of the field study tend to conceptualise that despite input in terms of money and material and the so called coveted efforts and endeavours of public servants, there is an abysmal mismatch between the objectives and achievement. We are still far away from the point of their conscientisation. The study will be of immense academic and practical worth. The comprehensive analysis and critical review presented in this book on an important aspect of tribal development and finally the policy prescriptions suggested make it imperative reading for economists, anthropologists, planners, policy makers, administrators and members of the academic and research organizations.