Context:
Prime Minister praised the efforts of soliga tribe in increasing the tiger population in Biligiri Ranganatha Swamy Temple (BRT) Tiger Reserve.
Soliga Tribe:
- Nomadic people who live in the Biligiriranga Hills region of Karnataka and some parts of Tamil Nadu.
- Became 1st tribal community living inside a tiger reserve to get legal rights to the forest in 2011
- Economy – Practice subsistence agriculture and engage in collection of minor forest produce.
- Language – Soliga, a Dravidian language closely related to Kannada.
- Religion – Follow Hindu customs while also practicing naturism and animism
- Worship tigers as sacred beings and refer to the tiger as Dodda Nayi.
Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple (BRT) Tiger Reserve:
- Location – Karnataka.
- Derives its name from ‘Biligiri ‘, the white rocky cliff which has a temple of Lord Vishnu, locally known as ‘Rangaswamy’.
- Situated in the middle of the bridge between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats
- Declared a Tiger Reserve in 2011.
- Vegetation – Dry deciduous type and are interspersed with moist deciduous, semi-evergreen, evergreen, and shola patches occurring at varying altitudes.
Source: TH
Previous Year Question
At the national level, which ministry is the nodal agency to ensure effective implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006?
[UPSC Civil Services Exam – 2021 Prelims]
(a) Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
(b) Ministry of Panchayati Raj
(c) Ministry of Rural Development
(d) Ministry of Tribal Affairs
Answer: (d)