Pandemic and predicaments on tribal children of Northeast India

This chapter is written to highlight the pandemic-related plight among tribal children of the northeast region of India. It looks into the digital divide, online learning, steps taken by the state, and other distress that came along during the pandemic. Considering the lack of study focused on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on tribal children of Northeast India, the study takes note of all the cases of children in the eight northeastern states. In doing so, it is crucial to account for four states – Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Nagaland that are identified as tribal majority states. ¹ The examination of children in the northeast region, especially of the aforementioned four states, represent tribal children at large, and the remaining states, Assam, Manipur, Sikkim, and Tripura, indicate both tribal and non-tribal children. The chapter is drawn from secondary data, books, articles, reports, and news reports to highlight the precarity among tribal children in the northeast region of India.