Yellappan is one of an estimated 15 crore Indians who have been wrongly identified and categorised. Many of these communities were once branded ‘hereditary criminals’ by the Criminal Tribes Act, 1871, instituted during colonial rule. This Act was repealed in 1952 and the communities referred to as De-Notified Tribes (DNTs) or Nomadic Tribes (NTs).
“Incomplete at best and inadequate at worst. They remain, in most cases, firmly placed on the lowest rung of the social hierarchy, often facing the prejudices that were created during the Colonial rule,” says a 2017 government report by the National Commission for Denotified Nomadic and Semi Nomadic Tribes.
Later some of these groups were placed in other categories like scheduled tribe (ST), scheduled caste (SC) and other backward classes (OBC). However, 269 communities have simply not been enumerated till date under any category, the 2017 report further adds. This denies them their rightful social welfare measures such as reservation in education and employment, land allotment, political participation and more.
TN has the highest number of DNT communities – 68 and the second highest number of NTs at 60. And so Pandi feels Dharmadorai’s chances at getting an education are slim. “We are competing with too many others,” he says referring to those who have had the ST status for longer. In Tamil Nadu, 69 per cent reservation is given in education and employment to Backward Classes (BC), Most Backward Classes (MBC), Vanniyars, DNTs, SCs and STs.
The Dommars were listed as Criminal Tribes in colonial times. Although denotified, “They live in a constant state of fear. Police atrocities and mob lynchings are a common occurrence,” says R. Maheswari, secretary of TENT (The Empowerment Centre of Nomads and Tribes) Society, Madurai, an NGO working for the communities’ rights.
Rukimini’s experience is not uncommon to former DNTs and NTs. The Criminal Tribes Act was repealed but some states instituted the Habitual Offenders Act that calls for similar registration and surveillance procedures. The difference is that now individuals and not entire communities are often targeted.
— source ruralindiaonline.org | Pragati K.B. | Mar 30, 2023