June 12, 2006
LIVING IN THE WORST OF CONDITIONS
ALMOST NO ACCESS TO THE FRUITS OF DEMOCRACY

There are almost seven to 10 per cent of the population of India who are living in the worst of conditions, moving here and there for their survival. These are denotified, nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes. The numbers of these tribes are around 500; however, they are not enumerated separately in the Census. They are also the worst affected by the development itself that snatched their traditional jobs like snake charming, acrobatics, puppetry, singing and dancing, hunting, handicrafts, fortune telling, healing and so on. Even modern laws of the country prevent them to pursue most of their traditional jobs. These people are landless, homeless and generally underfed with a negligible literacy rate. They are deprived of voting rights, caste certificates, ration cards and below poverty line certificates. They do not have access to land and potable water, education, and health facilities. Most of them are not even classified in Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes or Socially and educationally backward classes, resulting in almost no reservation in jobs, educational institutions or in politics of this country.

The well-being of these people came into focus again this week when The National Commission for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes has sought appropriate monetary provisions in the next Five Year Plan with territorial rights to them.

Rehabilitation of these tribes has always been a challenge for our planners, mainly because they are wandering communities, and secondly they carry a stigma of being “Criminals.” In the British India, the government had enacted Criminal Tribes Act 1871 and notified them as “Criminals.” After independence, the Government of India repealed this act in 1952, but the stigma continues to haunt them.

It is a fact that we could not do much for the well-being of these tribes. In September 2003, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment had decided to set up a National Commissions in pursuance of the announcement made by the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Bajpayee on the Independence Day to speed up the goal of achieving an equitable and inclusive society.
This commission was then set up in March 2005 to study the problems of Denotified communities and Nomadic and Semi-nomadic communities in order to bring them into the mainstream of national life.
The National Commission to review the working of the Constitution in its report has observed that, 'The Denotified tribes/ communities have been wrongly stigmatized as crime prone and subjected to highhanded treatment as well as exploitation by the representatives of law and order as well as by the general society. Some of them are included in the list of Scheduled Tribes and others are in the list of Scheduled Castes and list of backward classes. The special approach to their development has been delineated and emphasized in the Reports of the Working Groups for the Development of Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes in successive Plans and also in the Annual Reports of the Commissioners for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and the National Commission for Backward Classes. There are also special reports available on denotified tribes……The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and the Ministry of Tribal Affairs should collate all these materials and recommendations contained in the report of the working groups and the reports of the National Commissions and other reports referred to and strengthen the programmes for the socio-economic development, educational development, generation of employment opportunities, social liberation and full rehabilitation of denotified tribes'.
The Commission was given a brief to identify these communities, study their problems and recommend to the Central Government specific interventions required for their overall developmental aspects and make any other recommendations, which it may consider necessary.
As regards Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic communities, Nomadism is taken as a way of life. Illustrations of shepherds in the higher elevations of Himalayas, moving in search of fresh pastures and to escape the rigours of climate, khanabadoshes (wandering tribes), Koravans, the most numerous of Khanabadoshes, Gadia Lohar, Gujjars, Kalbelia Jogis, Kanjars, Sansis etc. have been cited. The Advisory Committee on the Revision of the Lists of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes- 1965 (Lokur Committee) observed, 'We are inclined to feel that it would be in the best interest of these communities if they are taken out from the list of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and treated exclusively as a distinctive group, with development schemes specially designed to suit their dominant characteristics'.
According the earlier government version, which contradicts the findings of the present National Commission , a few of the Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-nomadic 'Tribes' have been specified as Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribes and almost all the remaining communities have been specified by respective State Governments/ Union Territory Administrations as Other Backward Classes. There may be a few Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic 'Tribes' who are not placed in any of these categories. Some of them would also be in the central list of Other Backward Classes.
A major problem is that this commission has never been allowed to work properly. The decision to constitute this commission was taken in September 2003, however it was first set up in March 2005. It has again been reconstituted this month. Mr Balakrishna Sidram Renka has been appointed as Chairman, with two other members who had assumed office on February 2006.
Let us hope, our centre and state governments would do something in concrete terms for these miserable segment of our society.