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Abstract
Scheduled Tribes constitute to 8.6% of total population of India. This population is highly affected by the tribal policies which were formulated both in pre-independence and post-independence era. In this backdrop, the present paper endeavours to locate the Scheduled Tribes of India in different forest policies as to how their habitat rights got affected. Referring to various cases from different Scheduled Tribes of India viz the Jaunsarese of Uttarakhand, the Tharus of Uttarakhand, the Todas of the Nilgiris, the Mankidiasof Odisha and the Nicobarese of Car Nicobar the study applying Anthropological fieldwork methods, attempts to establish the interface between forest and tribes and explores the existing safeguards related to tribal rights in the light of recent legal debates.