No plans for distinct legal recognition for denotified tribes: Centre
Context: The Union government is not considering any proposal for distinct legal and constitutional recognition of a category on a par with the SC/ST/OBC classifications for the denotified, nomadic, and semi-nomadic tribes in India, the Tribal Affairs Ministry told the Rajya Sabha.
- This comes even as these communities (formerly classified as “criminal” under the colonial-era Criminal Tribes Act, 1871) are organising to push for a “separate column” in the upcoming 2027 Census forms for themselves, in the hopes of building it up into a movement for a fresh classification for communities that were once labelled “criminal”.
- In a meeting held on January 30, officials of the Social Justice Ministry assured leaders of the community that they will be counted in the Census.
- Replying to a question from MPs Manoj Kumar Jha (Rashtriya Janata Dal) and Sandosh Kumar P. (CPI) about the issue and the government’s plans for such a new classification, the Ministry said it had consulted with the Social Justice Ministry, which said, “There is no such proposal or plan under consideration.”