Historical Background & Need for Classification
- Denotified Tribes were earlier branded as “criminal tribes” under the Criminal Tribes Act, 1924, which was repealed in 1949.
- Despite denotification, social stigma, exclusion and lack of legal identity persisted.
- Multiple commissions attempted classification but failed to achieve closure:
- Kaka Kalelkar Commission (1955)
- Mandal Commission (1980)
- Renke Commission (2008)
- Idate Commission (2017) – identified ~1,200 DNT/NT/SNT communities and flagged 267 unclassified groups
- Based on the Idate report, a Special Committee under (2019) mandated AnSI & TRIs to undertake scientific ethnographic classification.
Key Findings of the Study
- 268 communities classified for the first time through field-based ethnography
- 179 communities recommended for inclusion in SC/ST/OBC lists
- 63 communities untraceable, likely due to:
- Name changes
- Migration
- Assimilation into other groups
- The findings have legal, political and constitutional implications, particularly for reservation policy.
Impact on Reservation & Welfare Policies
Positive Outcomes
- Legal recognition and formal identity for historically excluded groups
- Access to reservation benefits in:
- Education
- Employment
- Social welfare schemes
- Improved targeting of health, housing, nutrition and livelihood programmes
Competing Approaches in Policy Debate
1. Inclusion within SC/ST/OBC Lists
- Enables immediate access to constitutional safeguards
- Uses existing institutional frameworks
- Avoids creation of a new reservation category
2. Demand for a Separate DNT Category
- Argues DNTs have distinct historical and social disadvantages
- Fear that inclusion in SC/ST/OBC may:
- Dilute benefits
- Cause intra-category competition
- Seeks a stand-alone constitutional recognition
Challenges & Concerns
- Political resistance in states like UP, MP, Gujarat, Haryana over redistribution of reservation benefits
- Implementation delays, despite decades of recommendations
- Historical census misclassification, where tribes were recorded as castes
- Risk of exclusion errors if state-level adoption is uneven
- Potential legal challenges on criteria and inclusion basis
Way Forward
- The AnSI–TRI report has been submitted to the NITI Aayog Special Committee, which will:
- Review classifications
- Submit final recommendations to the Union Government
- If accepted:
- States can formally notify DNTs into SC/ST/OBC lists
- Targeted welfare schemes can be redesigned
- The debate on a separate DNT reservation category may intensify
- Strong need for:
- Transparent criteria
- State consultation
- Periodic review mechanisms
Conclusion
The classification of denotified, nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes marks a historic correction of colonial and post-colonial neglect. While it opens pathways for substantive equality and welfare access, the final impact will depend on political consensus, legal clarity and administrative execution. The government’s decision will significantly influence the future of India’s reservation architecture and social justice framework.
