De-notified tribes welfare: Report Flags Weak State Support and Gaps
April 24, 2026
Context: De-notified tribes welfare
A report by the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment flags weak State-level implementation of welfare measures for De-notified, Nomadic, and Semi-Nomadic Tribes, resulting in their continued exclusion from benefits.
De-notified Tribes (DNTs)
- Communities earlier labelled as “criminal tribes” under the Criminal Tribes Act, 1871.
- The Act was repealed in 1952, and they were de-notified.
- Continue to face stigma, marginalisation, and lack of recognition.
- Many are nomadic/semi-nomadic, leading to documentation and identification issues.
- Often misclassified or left out of SC, ST, or OBC categories, limiting access to welfare schemes.
Key points
- Poor State support in extending welfare measures to DNTs.
- Limited issuance of community certificates, restricting access to benefits.
- Delay in identifying beneficiaries, affecting schemes like PMAY-G.
- Lack of proper data and lists of DNT populations across States.
- Continued issue of misclassification within SC/ST/OBC categories.
- Around 1,200 communities historically affected by colonial “criminal tribe” tagging.
- Repeated advisories by Centre since 2015, but weak implementation persists.
- Demand for separate classification, but no proposal under consideration.
- Upcoming Census expected to improve enumeration and data availability.
