Ganesh Devy

The Union government has approved caste remuneration for the next Census. Looking at the exercise, the Denotified Tribes have demanded a separate column in the census. You were the pioneer of this demand. Can you tell us about separate columns and why they are needed or not [needed]?

The Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic communities have resided in India for several millennia. They predate the rise of agrarian society and the rise of the urban Indus Civilisation by several millennia. Pastoral-nomads, such as the Dhangars, Bharwads, and Van-Gujjars, continued their occupations throughout the emergence of Agrarian civilisation and into ancient and medieval times. During the colonial rule, they were brought under a law-enforcing area restriction. Another set of communities was brought under that law, and comprehensively, the law was the Criminal Tribes Act (CTA) passed by Lord Mayo’s Council in 1871.

The CTA was an inhuman legislation which forced a large number of innocent communities into ‘reformatory settlements’, another name for soft jails. In 1952, the CTA was replaced by the Habitual Offenders Act, though the stigma attached to these innocent communities continued. Since the CTA was annulled, these communities came to be called Denotified and Nomadic Communities (DNTs). However, only some of them were included in the ST category, some were included in SC lists, and some remained included in neither. Besides, this inclusion is done differently in different states.

Since 1952, no exact country-wide Census of the DNTs has been conducted. The issues relating to the DNTs cannot be summed up by thinking of them in terms of just ‘marginalised’, ‘tribes’ or ‘urban poor’. The inhuman treatment given to them by society and police, as well as in courts, makes them different. Only if a Census is carried out can the government plan any redeeming policy for them. Hence the Census is crucial for the DNTs.

There is also a demand for sub-categorisation within this column. How do you see that?

The idea of sub-classification emerges because not all of the DNTs fit into a single pattern of livelihood practices, skill-based, language-affiliation, and historical backgrounds. The requirements of semi-Nomadic communities have their settlements or camps as well as their village locations. That is different from the situation of the perennially Nomadic communities. Also, others work with metals, timber, yarn, or bamboo—making things out of these materials—and those who train animals ranging from elephants to donkeys, for work. The Hakki Pikkis are known for their knowledge of birds, as opposed to the Madaris known for their knowledge of snakes. Not all of them have identical requirements. The Meena community of Rajasthan, or the Banjaras in several States, for instance, have accomplished progress in education; as against that, the Paradhi community in several States has remained far from schooling. Hence, sub-classification is necessary. Some States like Karnataka and Maharashtra have already done this in a rational way.

According to the Idate Commission report of 2017, there are 1,200 Denotified Tribes in India. Do you believe that with this census, the government should bring them all under one category and at par with SCs and STs.

The number of such communities, and the exact population of all those communities, have so far been ‘approximate estimates’. When I founded the Denotified and Nomadic Tribes Rights Action Group (DAT-RAG) in 1998, our estimate was based on the data available in the 1931 Census, which was a pre-independence Census, but, unfortunately, the last Census to have considered a proper count of communities. The estimates changed when we appealed to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in 2001 for an annulment of the Habitual Offenders Act. Again, when the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government appointed a DNT Commission, the estimates were re-adjusted. The same happened when the NDA government appointed yet another Commission. It is just impossible to decide the exact number of the DNT and Semi-nomadic Communities with their exact community-wise population. Whether they deserve an altogether different Constitutional listing, and if it should be one or more than one, can be decided only after getting the Census figures. The tragedy of the DNTs is that even this forthcoming Census has not prepared itself for a complete DNT count.

It has been noticed in multiple States that because these tribes are included in OBC groups—as in Maharashtra, where the Vanjari are included as VJNT in the OBC category—there is huge inequality among tribes. How can one address this issue?

For that to become possible, some kind of rational policy will have to be worked out. In order to work out such a normative policy, the country needs the exact Geo-specific data of the DNTs. The Census alone can do that. Since 2002, report after report and Commission after Commission have recommended a comprehensive DNT Census. One had hoped that since a Caste Census is announced by the government, there would also be a complete DNT Census; but that does not appear to be a thought in the mind of the government formed yet with any clarity. I find it shocking

A section of members from the Denotified Tribes Welfare Association demand the completion of the Census for Denotified Tribes, Nomadic Tribes, and Semi-Nomadic Tribes in the State before December 31, 2020, at the Madurai Collectorate. | Photo Credit: G. Moorthy / The Hindu

There are practical challenges in making Denotified Tribes aware of the existence of a separate column and asking them to fill it. They are not all literate or educated. How can the government make this exercise successful?

The illiteracy issue associated with the DNTs is a kind of ‘punishment’ that they have suffered for no crime of theirs. Can the communities that are already punished in multiple ways be made open to further punishment? The Commissioner of Census has to think of how to overcome the difficulty. For example, can an illiterate be left out of the electoral roll by the Election Commission? Definitely not. Similarly, the DNTs cannot be excluded from the Census. The Union government has said that DNTs will be “included” in the Census, but it has not said whether they will be counted “as being DNT” ( in addition to their being SC, ST, General Category population). That is a flawed Census design. If the government decides to carry out the DNT Census, along with the General Census, it is certainly possible for that gigantic counting machine.

What is the ideal methodology to follow for introducing this column and disseminating the information among the denotified tribes. For example, many of them are nomadic and do not have a permanent address.

The ideal way is self-statement or self-attestation. However, the enumerators must keep in mind that the DNTs have humongous difficulties in securing any documents. Therefore, the documents to be produced must be thoughtfully and minimally listed. If not, the human tragedy and exclusion will be far worse than what the absurd SIR exercise has caused.

Some nomadic tribes such as the Dhangar in Maharashtra are demanding inclusion in the ST category because the Dhankad in Rajasthan are enlisted as STs. Not doing so might create a socio-political crisis. How do you think the government should answer such demands?

The inclusion of any DNT community in the SC or ST category is a different issue. There are well-defined procedures for effecting any such inclusion. That will have to be considered in the case of every community on the merit of their demand. The entire history of Notification, and the subsequent Denotification, of the DNTs is so complicated that a one-size-fits-all policy can cause injustice more than justice. Perhaps, a central body like the Anthropological Survey of India (ASI) needs to be created for this purpose, for in-depth studies on each and every DNT community in order to deliver complete justice to each of them.

It was the British who labelled these tribes as “criminal”. However, despite Independence, the bureaucratic mindset has not changed even today. You think that the census could be an opportunity for the government to create awareness about such tribes, remove the stigma surrounding them, and, most importantly, educate the police?

The Census is the only, the first and the last opportunity for the country to integrate the DNTs within the Constitution’s idea of justice and equality. Once that is lost, the DNTs have nowhere to turn to or look for even an iota of social justice. The trouble is that while they are spread all over the country, their numbers in any single Assembly or Parliament Constituency are relatively small. Besides, they have not enjoyed any proportionate representation in the assemblies or the Parliament. Therefore, their political strength has remained near-zero. On the other side, the Census of 2026-27 appears to have been initiated only with the purpose of being long overdue.

Delimitation by increasing the number of Lok Sabha and Assembly seats. It has departed from almost all norms laid down by the United Nations in their ‘Norms and Principles for Census’ document. Under such a situation, it is anyone’s guess if the DNTs will at last see any ray of hope in this Census. I cannot think of any country in the modern world that has allowed such a large section of its population (approximately 9 per cent of the total population) to be left languishing in misery and suffering for such a longtime.