India's denotified tribes demand a life of dignity

New Delhi: They have no address, no landholdings, no citizenship documents – in fact, no identity proof of the usual sort available to other citizens. Their children remain out of school and the women struggle for dignity.

Speakers at the Convention/ Photo credit: Mahipal Singh Rawat/ OWSA

Even after 62 years of independence, a large section of the country’s denotified tribes (DNTs) and communities continue to remain out of the census list, as they are not registered as primary residents. The last community-wise census of these tribes was done during the colonial rule in 1931.

Since then, only projections have been used to arrive at an estimate of their population. While some of these communities are classified as Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Classes (OBCs), others do not find mention in any of these categories.

To highlight the peculiar problems faced by these invisible communities and suggest measures to integrate them into the mainstream, a national convention was organised in New Delhi earlier this week by Lokdhara, a national alliance of denotified and nomadic tribes.

Banished

Denotified tribes include various communities, which were unjustly notified as ‘criminal tribes’ under the Criminal Tribes Act, 1871 by the British government. Following independence, all of these were ‘denotified’.

A still from the doumentary by Anand Kasambe/ Photo credit: Mahipal Singh Rawat/ OWSA

The event also showed a short documentary by Anand Kasambe, an activist with Lokdhara, depicting the plight of these nomadic tribes.

Some of these included pastorals and hunter-gatherers like Dhanagars, Kathiawadis; entertainers and religious performers like Dombaris (acrobats), Bahurupias (strolling actors), Saperas (snake charmers), Gosavis (ascetics); and service nomads like Shikalchi (blacksmith), Vadar (stonecutters), Kunchikorna (monkey trainers), Chapparband (roof-thatchers), etc.

Speaking to OneWorld South Asia, Pallavi Renke, Maharashtra State President, Lokdhara said: “One of the major problems being faced by the DNTs is a continuing stigma of criminality attached to them, which has made them vulnerable to frequent police harassments merely on the grounds of suspicion. It is, therefore, necessary that they come out of this stigma and live a dignified life like the mainstream citizenry of the country.”

She added that apart from having to face the stigma of criminality, these communities had been driven away from their traditional occupations and were being prosecuted under a plethora of new laws in the name of forest conservation, wildlife protection, cruelty to animal, prevention of beggary, and so on.

Pallavi Renke/ Photo credit: Mahipal Singh Rawat/ OWSA

Umed Singh Rabari, a livestock farmer from Rajasthan said: “We contribute significantly to the national GDP but get no help from the government. In fact, there has been a deliberate attempt to marginalise us. The Special Economic Zones are threatening our livelihoods by usurping our grazing lands.”

With large-scale infrastructural development, growth in communication and transportation, enhanced social and spatial mobility and a shift from an agrarian to an industrial economy, these communities have been left with no choice but to shift towards alternate occupations. Sometimes they are even forced into begging. Competing with ‘sedentary’ communities for access to natural resources, their livelihoods are seriously threatened and many of them fall prey to child labour and trafficking.

Identity crisis

Taking note of their socio-economic conditions and to suggest measures for their all-round upliftment, a report by the National Commission for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi Nomadic Tribes was submitted to the prime minister last year.

This report observed that these communities across the country were seen dwelling in temporary shelters or tents on vacant lands. They had no permanent addresses and hence had got no land allocation for housing purpose.

With no proof of residence or property ownership certificates, they were not in a position to avail ration cards and had not been included in the BPL (below the poverty line) list. They also faced a lot of trouble in getting the caste certificates and therefore no access to government welfare schemes.

Among the extremely patriarchal nomadic communities, there was hardly any protection for women. Laws preserving the property interests and dignity of women had virtually no relevance to the women of these communities, the report noted.

“Why is it taking so long to implement the recommendations of the report?” asked visibly agitated Subhash Ghamande from Maharashtra.

Balkrishna Renke/ Photo credit: Mahipal Singh Rawat/ OWSA

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Balkrishna Renke, ex-chairman of the Commission said: “It has been a year-and-a-half since the report was submitted, but no concrete action has been taken. These communities are still living a life of uncertainty. It’s a matter of great shame. This convention is an attempt to organise them on a common platform like this and urgently demand their right to dignity, water, health and education.”

He pointed out that human rights of these communities were frequently violated and they remained the most marginalised, neglected, scattered and excluded from the society. Lack of identity and residential proofs do not allow them to come under the purview of various poverty alleviation programmes of the government.

Expressing discontent over benefits of development not reaching them, Jile Singh from Punjab said that even after over six decades of independence, the state of these communities has not seen any marked improvement. With no representation in Parliament, their demands often fail to gain a centre stage.

“Illiteracy and lack of awareness have kept them away from the political arena so far, therefore we demand that the government must urgently provide for their housing, education and skill development,” said Pallavi Renke.