NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR DENOTIFIED, NOMADIC AND SEMI-NOMADIC TRIBES Voices of the DNT/NT Communities in India Visit of Chairman and Member to the State of Rajasthan and receiving representations/grievanc0es from local DNT/NT people CONTENTS Page No. 1. Foreword from Chairman 1 2. A note from Member Secretary – 3 ‘Voices of DNT/NT Communities in India’ 3. Summary of grievances received (State wise) 9 4. Analysis of Grievances/Policy implications 24 ANNEXURES Annexure-1 : List of States/Communities visited/met 31 Annexure-2 : State wise grievance statement 33 Annexure-3 : List of Communities seeking inclusion 118 Foreword Government of India has constituted a National Commission for Denotified, Nomadic & Semi-Nomadic Tribes with a mandate to identify and prepare a state-wise list of DNT/NT, apart from assessing the status of their inclusion in SC/ST/OBC, identification of areas where they are densely populated, reviewing the progress of development and suggesting appropriate measures for their upliftment. Commission came into existence from 9th January, 2015. 2. The Commission led by me made extensive visits, visited 20 states, held meetings with 15 State Governments, met nearly 123 communities in their locations and saw their living conditions and received nearly 834 grievances/representations from the community people, leaders and associations. 3. These visits and the grievances have given a new vision to us and views of the people, especially the down-trodden people who are yet to see the ray of hope. The publication of the document “Voices of the Denotified, Nomadic & Semi-Nomadic Tribes” is a very big effort towards achieving the objectives of the Commission. 4. I compliment the efforts of Member Secretary and his colleagues. (Bhiku Ramji Idate) Chairman NCDNT 1 2 Voices of the Denotified, Nomadic & Semi- Nomadic Tribes in India H.K. Dash, IAS (Retd.) Member Secretary Government of India has constituted a National Commission for Denotified, Nomadic & Semi-Nomadic Tribes with a mandate to identify and prepare a state-wise list of DNT/NT, apart from assessing the status of their inclusion in SC/ST/OBC, identification of areas where they are densely populated, reviewing the progress of development and suggesting appropriate measures for their upliftment. Commission came into existence from 9th January, 2015. 2. The Commission visited the DNT/NT communities extensively and attended the sammelan of various associations in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and also communities in Rajasthan, UP, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, etc. During the visit of the Commission, it has become customary for all these communities showing great enthusiasm and response. They will, especially the youth with their mobile phones, always pose for photographs when they submitted their grievances and representations, or otherwise. 3. Commission also adopted practice of having meetings with community leaders in groups in various places starting from Gujarat and inviting them to make presentations before it. From the various communications, representations and memoranda, it was noticed that they have a large number of developmental issues pertaining to their legal status and they bring up well on various research data and notifications, etc. 4. The grievances collected from various sources during the state visits not only give a list of organisations, associations and the names of community leaders but also their demands and suggestions for policy changes including anomalies in the status of their communities from state to state and their desire for shifting from one category to another of caste and tribes amongst SC/ST/OBCs. 5. These grievances are analysed, state-wise and sent to the respective competent authorities for action and are monitored from the office of the Commission. The way 3 National Commission for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes leaders of these communities present their cases suggest that these communities are not only engaged in their efforts to find expression in socio-economic life and political life but also they are well prepared with intellectual and legal documentation to support their views. 6. They depict not only the life-style and culture of the communities, but also give a larger picture about their population, demographic details and their locations, habitat and traditional occupation, etc. Many communities are facing deeper crisis because of the loss of traditional occupation and declining population. In few months, we covered 20 states, 123 communities and 834 grievances were received. 142 representations are received in which people are asking for inclusion in other category from the present such as SC to ST or like that. 7. When we started this system of analysing and following up of the grievances and started preparing tour reports of visits of communities, meetings with community leaders and state governments, they provided a treasure of information for this Commission which will be useful for supporting views and action for the betterment of the people. 8. The communities feel that for years they have been ignored, neglected and remained downtrodden. There was no way in which they could express their grievances. This is a very big chance to solve their problem with the present Government appointing a Commission to study their problems. Some feel this could be ‘a last big chance’ to get their social issues addressed. 9. These grievances and demands have to be analysed and presented with a rationale legal framework to be translated as recommendations when they can be accepted for processing as decisions. Of course, there may be need for social political consensus. A good, scientific report can achieve this. To that end, the Commission is committed to work and achieve, in the shortest possible time. 10. The people, who were notified as Criminal Tribes during British rule and were denotified after independence in 1952, have been known as denotified tribes, based on the report of Ananthasayanam Ayyangar in 1949-50. The Committee listed nearly 163 communities in the erstwhile British Territories apart from those who lived in the then states as given in the Annexure. There are also many nomadic tribes who were part of these DNT communities. 11. The 1931 census noted that “these communities were the most oppressed” although they did not undergo the social untouchability as in the case of caste known as 4 National Commission for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes scheduled castes. These are the people who were dishonoured by history, branded by law and rejected by societies as experts write volumes on their woes. 12. There are also many nomadic tribes who earn their living through street plays, rope walking, playing music and entertainment to people in the streets, through use of animals like monkeys, snakes and cows, etc. Some communities live by virtue of their traditional occupation such as making bamboo baskets, toys of waste materials or making of agricultural tools etc. Some even live on catching birds, rats, etc. Some even live on making small trades or hunting. 13. As some experts opine, some of the denotified tribes and nomadic tribes who had exposure and proximity to British officials, education, land and property, etc. and were prepared to forego their traditional occupation, they started progressing well and became “visible communities” in DNT/NT. Others still live in poverty, squalor, illiteracy, even under severe economic deprivation and malnutrition. 14. After independence, the erstwhile aborigines were classified as scheduled tribes, the untouchables were classified as scheduled castes and others included in the backward classes. Although, many of the denotified, nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes are spread among SC/ST/OBC, many are still not classified anywhere and have no access to socio- economic benefits whether education, health, housing or otherwise. Many communities are facing decline in population. 15. Except a few states like Maharashtra, Gujarat etc. some of these communities figure in various classifications in the states such as Backward Tribe (Puducherry), Most Backward Classes (Tamil Nadu), Extremely Backward Classes (Bihar), ‘Original settlers’ in Arunachal Pradesh, Primitive Tribes (Jharkhand/Odisha), Hill Tribes (Assam) etc. In some states they are called ‘Tribal Settlers’. In some states they are called ‘Hidden Tribes’ etc. Many DNT/NT communities tried to hide their castes for fear of harassment of the British. Many communities tried to hide their caste so that they are grouped as ‘Lower Castes’. Many states did not notify them as criminal tribes but in police records, they were noted as criminals. 16. There are many anomalies in terms of identification of these communities, from state to state. Many people also do not know what is Denotified tribe and which authority is looking after their grievances. Recently, this Commission made a recommendation to the Government of India to write to all state governments to form district level Grievances Redressal Committee under the District Collector to hear the grievances of these communities/groups/tribes. 5 National Commission for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes 17. During the visits of the Commission, it was noticed that their general conditions of living were very pitiable, poverty, squalor and lack of education are pervasive. Nevertheless, many of the community members have also become conscious of their community rights and have organized themselves in terms of active group with a commitment for the upliftment of their