In the given question, a statement of Assertion is followed by a statement of Reason. Mark the correct answer.

Assertion: Scheduled Tribes enjoy constitutional protection in political representation, but they have not got many of the benefits of development in the country.

Reason: They have paid a huge cost for development since they are the single largest group among the people displaced by various developmental projects since independence.

Both the Assertion and the Reason are correct and the Reason is the correct explanation of the Assertion.

For centuries, if not millennia, Scheduled tribes had free access to as much land as they could cultivate. It was only after the establishment of British colonial rule that areas, which had previously been inhabited by the Scheduled Tribe communities, were subjected to outside forces. Although they enjoy constitutional protection in political representation, they have not got many of the benefits of development in the country. In fact, they have paid a huge cost for development since they are the single largest group among the people displaced by various developmental projects since independence.