Addition of Tribes to ST List
Source : The Hindu
GS II: Government policies and Interventions

What is discussed under Addition of Tribes to ST List?

1. Newly Added Tribes
2. About Scheduled Tribes

Why in News ?

Recently, government has approved the inclusion of certain communities in the lists of Scheduled Tribes in Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, fulfilling long-pending demands from these states.

Newly Added Tribes

Hatti Tribe (Himachal Pradesh):

• The Hattis are a close-knit group of people who acquired their name from the custom of selling homegrown produce, livestock, meat,

  

  and other goods in town’s “haat” marketplaces.

• The group has been requesting this since 1967, when residents of the Sirmaur district’s bordering Jaunsar Bawar region of Uttarakhand were granted tribal identity.
• Resolutions adopted at various maha Khumblis over the years strengthened their claim for tribal status.

Narikoravan and Kurivikkaran (Tamil Nadu):

• Nomadic tribes like the Narikuravas and Kuruvikaras (jackal catchers and bird eaters) pride themselves on their traditional occupations of hunting and gathering.

Binjhia (Chhattisgarh):

• In Jharkhand and Odisha, the Binjhia were categorised as STs, but not in Chhattisgarh.
• The Binjhia are meat eaters, and agriculture is the foundation of their society and economy.
• They don’t eat beef or pork, although they do drink alcohol, including handia (rice beer).

Gond Community (Uttar Pradesh):

• The Cabinet approved a proposal to bring the Gond community residing in 13 districts of Uttar Pradesh, under the ST list from the Scheduled Caste list.
• This includes the five subcategories of the Gond community (Dhuria, Nayak, Ojha, Pathari, and Rajgond).

‘Betta-Kuruba’ (Karnataka):

• The ST status granted to the Betta-Kuruba community as a synonym of Kadu Kuruba of Karnataka.
• Betta-Kuruba community has been demanding to include in the ST category for the last 30 years.

About Scheduled Tribes

• The Census 2011 has revealed that there are said to be 705 ethnic groups notified as Scheduled Tribes (STs).
• Article 366(25) of the Constitution only provides process to define Scheduled Tribes: “Scheduled Tribes means such tribes or tribal communities or parts of or groups within such tribes or tribal communities as are deemed under Article 342 to be Scheduled Tribes for the purposes of this Constitution.”
• Article 342(1): The President may with respect to any State or Union Territory, and where it is a State, after consultation with the Governor, by a public notification, specify the tribes or tribal communities or part of or groups within tribes or tribal communities as Scheduled Tribe in relation to that State or Union Territory.
• The Dhebar Commission (1973) created a separate category “Primitive Tribal Groups (PTGs)” which was renamed in 2006 as “Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)”.

How ST are included?

• Tribal Affairs Ministry analyses and forwards the recommendations for inclusion in the ST list to the Registrar General of India for approval after receiving them from the corresponding State governments.
• Before the list is forwarded to the Cabinet for a final decision, the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes must first approve it.