Office of Registrar-General of India following ‘obsolete’ criteria to define Scheduled Tribes
- The Office of the Registrar-General of India (RGI) is following the set of criteria set out by the Lokur Committee ~60 years ago to define any new community as a ST.
- Approval of the Office of the RGI is mandatory for the inclusion of any community on ST lists, as per the procedure for scheduling tribes.
Lokur panel
- Criteria set out for defining a community as a tribe:
- Indications of primitive traits
- Distinctive culture
- Geographical isolation
- Shyness of contact with the community
- Backwardness
Task force on Scheduling of Tribes
- Constitution: Formed under the leadership of then Tribal Affairs Secretary in February 2014
- Findings:
- Concluded that these criteria “may have become obsolete considering the process of transition and acculturation”.
- Noted that terms like “primitive and the requirement of primitivity to be a characteristic of ST indicates a condescending attitude by outsiders.
- Pointed out problems with the geographical isolation criterion.
- Recommendations: Asked for changes to the criteria in May and based on this, a draft Cabinet note to overhaul the criteria and procedure for scheduling of new communities as STs was prepared.
Proposed new criteria
- Socio-economic criteria: Education, backwardness
- Historical geographical isolation
- Distinct language/dialect
- Presence of a core culture relating to life-cycle, marriage, songs, dance, paintings, folklore; endogamy, or in case of exogamy.
- Proposed exclusion: Communities which have adopted a ‘Hindu’ way of life will not be ineligible merely on this ground.
- Population of the new community in relation to the existing ST population
Prelims Takeaway
- Lokur Committee