Source: PIB and MInistry of Social Justice & Empowerment
Background
The British Government had from time to time declared some of the tribes which, according to them, were involved in criminal activities as Criminal Tribes. The Criminal Tribes Act (CTA), 1871 provided that if a Local Government had reason to believe that any tribe, gang or class of people is addicted to the systematic commission of non-bailable offences, it may, with the authorization of the Governor General, declare such tribe etc. as a “Criminal Tribe”. The CTA was revised in 1911 and in 1924. The CTA, 1924, was repealed by the Criminal Tribes Laws (Repeal) Act, 1952 on the recommendations of the Shri Ananthasayanam Ayyangar Committee. As a result, the tribes notified earlier as Criminal Tribes, stood denotified, and the name ‘Denotified Tribes’ (DTs) has been in use for them since then. Most DNTs are categorized as SC,ST or OBC though a few of the DNTs are not covered in any of these categories
Denotified Tribes
The term stands for all those communities which were once notified under the Criminal Tribes Acts, enforced by the British Raj between l87l and I947. These Acts were repealed by the Independent lndian Government in l952, and these communities were “De-Notified”. A few of these communities which were listed as de-notified were also nomadic
Nomadic and Semi-nomadic Tribes
Nomadic and semi-nomadic are groups social groups who undertook a fairly frequent, usually seasonal physical movement as port of their livelihood strategy in the recent past. The term semi-nomad is mostly used to describe those sections of nomads whose duration, distance and frequency of movement is comparatively less than others. On the other hand, Semi-nomadic groups tend to have a fixed abode for a part of the year and are itinerant in the rest of the year
Status of these tribes in India
It has been estimated that South Asia has the world’s largest nomadic population. In India, roughly 10 percent of the population is Denotified and Nomadic.While the number of Denotified Tribes is about 150, the population of Nomadic Tribes consists of about 500 different communities. While the Denotified Tribes have almost settled in various States of the country, the Nomadic Communities continue to be largely nomadic in pursuit of their traditional professions
National commission for for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes (NCDNT)
The Government in July 2014 had constituted National Commission for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes (NCDNT) for a period of three years to prepare a State-wise list of castes belonging to Denotified and Nomadic Tribes and to suggest appropriate measures in respect of Denotified and Nomadic Tribes that may be undertaken by the Central Government or the State Government
