INTRODUCTION Madhya Pradesh is also known as the ‘Heart of India’. It covers an area of 308,000 sq.km. and is one of the largest State in the country. Madhya Pradesh has one of the largest tribal population in the country. Out of the 48 districts in the State, 18 are predominantly tribal. Eighty nine blocks (approx. 28%) of the total 313 development blocks are tribal blocks. State Profile SN INDICATORS STATUS 1 Districts 48 2 Total Blocks 313 3 Community Development Blocks 224 4 Tribal Blocks 89 (28%) 5 Zila Panchayat 48 6 Janpad Panchayat (Block Panchayat) 313 7 Gram Panchayat (Village Panchayat) 23051 8 Villages (Inhabited) 52143 9 Habitations 85149 10 Nagar Nigams 14 11 Nagar Palikas 85 12 Nagar Panchayats 235  Demographic Profile (as per census 2001) SN INDICATORS STATUS 1 Population   Total 6,03,85,218   Male 3,14,56,973 (52%)   Female 2,89,28,245 (48%)   SC 15.17%   ST 20.27%   Urban 1,61,02,400 (27%)   Rural 4,42,82,528 (73%)   Sex ratio 920  2 Literacy                Total 64.11%   Male 76.8%   Female 50.30%   SC 58.57%   ST 41.16%   Urban 79.4%   Rural 57.8%  The caste wise distribution clearly shows that the SC population is 15.17% and ST population is 20.27% . The population in the State has recorded a decadal increase of 24.34% from 1991 to 2001. There is a significant improvement in the sex ratio from 912 in 1991 to 920 in 2001. However, the population density has increased from 158 to196.