2026

Denotified tribes seek constitutional recognition, separate Census entry

Context: Denotified tribes, nomadic tribes, semi-nomadic tribes seek ‘separate column’ in 2027 caste census, claiming they have been politically misclassified among SC, ST, OBC groups; they want sub-classification to highlight backwardness within grouping.

• Denotified tribes, nomadic tribes, and semi-nomadic tribes across the country are coming together to push for a “separate column” for themselves in Census 2027 . Their demand is for constitutional recognition of the denotified tribes in a Schedule, on a par with the existing classifications of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
• In February 2027, India will conduct a caste enumeration for the first time since 1931. Five years after that 1931 Census, the origins of the Scheduled Castes list came into being in the form of the Government of India (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1936.
• Half a century earlier, in 1871, a colonial law had classified entire communities, particularly nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes, as “criminals”. After the law was repealed in 1952, these groups came to be known as “denotified” tribes.
• The Social Justice Ministry has now recommended to the Office of the Registrar-General of India that these denotified, nomadic, and semi-nomadic tribes be included in the Census. The Office of the RGI has agreed to include them in next year’s caste enumeration exercise, Ministry officials assured community leaders in North India in a virtual meeting on January 30.

‘Separate column’

• “But we have no idea how they will do this,” B.K. Lodhi, a community organiser in Uttar Pradesh who was at the meeting, told The Hindu. “If we are not counted in a separate column, a separate code, in the Census forms, we will be lost once again,” said Balak Ram Sansi, 63, a Karnal-based organiser with the All India Denotified Nomadic Tribes Development Council.
• Even as leaders from denotified, nomadic, and semi-nomadic communities across Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, and other parts of North India are fighting to have their own Schedule, some leaders have started to stress the importance of recognising “graded backwardness” within this grouping as well.
• They want the demand for sub-classification to go hand in hand with that for a separate Schedule. These leaders, like Dr. Lodhi, are drawing their arguments from an August 2024 judgment, in which the Supreme Court paved the way for sub-classification of SCs and STs.

Denotified tribes

• The Criminal Tribes Act was first enacted in 1871 and then amended in 1924, before being officially repealed on August 31, 1952. The 1871 Act said it was for the “registration, surveillance and control of certain criminal tribes and eunuchs”, describing “criminal tribes” as “tribe, gang, or class of persons” that are “addicted” to committing non-bailable offences. “These communities were among the first to confront the British and sustained the struggle. That is why the colonial government classified us as ‘criminal tribes’,” Mr. Sansi said.
• The previous National Commission for Denotified Tribes, headed by Bhiku Ramji Idate, identified 1,200 such tribes, most of which have been assimilated in the SC, ST, or OBC classifications over the past seven decades. In its 2017 report, however, the Idate Commission listed 267 DNT communities that have not been classified as such. Dr. Lodhi, who served as Deputy Secretary and Director (Research) to the Idate Commission, said, “Most of the DNTs have been amalgamated in the SC, ST, OBC lists and they are not able to compete in these categories because of how marginalised they are.” Mr. Sansi said it was “politics” that led to the DNT communities being “misclassified”.

No caste certificates

• Despite schemes for DNTs run by both the State and the Centre, such as the SEED scheme, only a “miniscule” percentage of people are getting benefits, mainly because governments are not willing to issue DNT certificates, the leaders said.
• The Social Justice Ministry has only spent ₹69.3 crore on the SEED scheme in the past five years (as of December 2025), compared to the planned expenditure of ₹200 crore. “The reason for this is that no State is issuing proper DNT community certificates for us despite reminders from the Centre,” Dr. Lodhi said.

Manipur President’s Rule ends; Khemchand new CM

Context: Will prioritise peace, says the Chief Minister; BJP’s Kuki-Zo member Nemcha Kipgen and Losii Dikho of the Naga People’s Front sworn in as Deputy CMs; two more MLAs take oath as Ministers

• The installation of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance government, with a Meitei leader at the helm, brought an end to nearly a year of President’s Rule in Manipur.
• Around 6 p.m., Manipur Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla administered the oath of office to former Assembly Speaker and martial artist Yumnam Khemchand Singh as the State’s second Chief Minister since the 2022 election.
• The first, Nongthombam Biren Singh, resigned on February 9, 2025, following the ethnic conflict between the Kuki-Zo and Meitei communities that broke out on May 3, 2023. The swearing-in ceremony followed the revocation of President’s Rule, which was imposed on February 13, 2025.
• Mr. Khemchand Singh represents the BJP from the Singjamei constituency.
• The BJP’s Kangpokpi MLA, Nemcha Kipgen, from the Kuki-Zo community, and Naga People’s Front MLA Losii Dikho, a Naga leader representing the Mao constituency, were sworn in as Deputy Chief Ministers. The former took the oath virtually from Manipur Bhavan in New Delhi.
• Two other Meitei MLAs — Govindas Konthoujam of the BJP (Bishnupur) and Khuraijam Loken Singh of the National People’s Party (Wangoi) — were sworn in as Ministers at the Lok Bhavan in Manipur’s capital, Imphal. “There will always be challenges. We will prioritise peace and work for the State’s development and growth,” Mr. Khemchand Singh said after swearing in.

Russia sounds alarm as New START treaty is set to expire

Context: The last nuclear treaty between Washington and Moscow is set to expire tomorrow; Moscow awaiting U.S. response to one-year extension offer; Russian drones strike Ukraine ahead of talks

• The Kremlin warned on Tuesday that the world was heading into a “dangerous” moment as the last U.S.-Russia nuclear treaty is set to expire this week.

• New START, the last nuclear treaty between Washington and Moscow after decades of agreements dating to the Cold War, is set to expire on Thursday, and with it restrictions on the two top nuclear powers.

• “In just a few days, the world will be in a more dangerous position than it has ever been before,” spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said. The Kremlin, which has offered a one-year extension of the treaty, said “we still haven’t received a response from the Americans to this initiative”.
• If the treaty is not extended, the world’s top two nuclear powers would “be left without a fundamental document that would limit and control these arsenals,” for the first time.
• U.S. President Donald Trump, who cut many international agreements limiting the United States, said in September that an extension of the New START “sounds like a good idea,” but little has changed since then.
• Meanwhile, Russia fired around 450 long-range drones and 70 missiles of various types at Ukraine in a major attack overnight, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
• The barrage came a day before the two countries were due to attend U.S.-brokered talks in Abu Dhabi.