Cabinet approves addition of four tribes to ST list

Source: The post is based on the article “Cabinet approves addition of four tribes to ST list” published in The Hindu on 15^th September 2022.

What is the News?

The Union Cabinet under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Narendra has approved the addition of four tribes to the list of Scheduled Tribes (ST), including those from Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh.

Note: Demands for the inclusion of the communities had been pending for decades. For instance, the Hatti tribe had been seeking their inclusion for around 50 years.

What are the tribes included in the list of the Scheduled Tribes (ST)?

1) The Hatti tribe in the Trans-Giri area of Sirmour district in Himachal Pradesh, 2) The Narikoravan and Kurivikkaran hill tribes of Tamil Nadu, 3) Binjhia tribe in Chhattisgarh. The tribe was listed as ST in Jharkhand and Odisha but not in Chhattisgarh.

Other decisions:

1) 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.

2) The Cabinet had also approved the inclusion of synonyms for 11 tribes in Chhattisgarh and one tribe in Karnataka so that variations in their spellings and pronunciations do not result in beneficiaries being left out of schemes.

About the list of Scheduled Tribes

Article 342 provides for the specification of tribal communities or parts of or groups within tribes or tribal communities which are deemed to be Scheduled Tribes in relation to that State or UT.

Accordingly, the Scheduled Tribes list is notified for each State or Union Territory. These lists are valid only within the jurisdiction of that State or UT and not outside.

What are the criteria for inclusion in ST List?

The criteria presently followed for the specification of a community as a Scheduled Tribe are: a) Indications of primitive traits; b) distinctive culture; c) geographical isolation; d) Shyness of contact with the community at large; and e) backwardness.

However, these criteria are not mentioned in the Constitution.

What is the process for inclusion in ST List?

The process begins with a recommendation from the respective State governments. These recommendations are then sent to the Tribal Affairs Ministry. After review, the Ministry sends them to the Registrar General of India for approval.

This is followed by the approval of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes before the list is sent to the Cabinet for a final decision.