This compendium of 21 papers, presented at the Indian Anthropology Congress, held at Kannur University, Kerala, under the aegis of the Indian National Confederation and Academy of Anthropologists, attempts to highlight the conditions of various socially excluded groups, such as the tribes, the marginalized and weaker sections, the minorities, the migrants, the victimized and the women, from across India, reinforcing the need for an effective social inclusive policy with the emphasis on sustainable development.

It presents the ethnographic accounts of the excluded people who are at the margins and require an inclusive approach in the process of development. It also addresses the issues concerning practical initiatives towards the inclusion of the socially excluded, policy initiatives and future perspectives.