Scheduled Tribe in India

Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are among India's most economically disadvantaged groups. With a focus on "faster, more sustainable, and more inclusive growth," the 12th Five Year Plan emphasizes the importance of addressing the concerns of the poor, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, minorities, differently-abled, and other marginalized groups in order to achieve inclusive growth.

Scheduled Tribes in India

For the development and empowerment of the SC-ST population in India, the Indian government has adopted progressive legislation, programs, and plans. The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (FRA), the Provision of Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996, the Minor Forest Produce Act, 2005, and the Tribal Sub-Plan Strategy are all aimed at empowering STs economically. A distinct Chapter in the Land Acquisition Bill renamed The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation, and Resettlement Bill, 2012, protects the interests of SCs and STs. In September 2013, India's Parliament enacted the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and Their Rehabilitation Bill, 2013. The goal of this bill is to end the inhumane practice of manual scavenging and to rehabilitate freed manual scavengers from the Scheduled Castes. The Indian government also provides unique programs to help people gain access to possibilities such as educational scholarships, financial assistance, and skill development for starting a business for the ST SC population in India. 

Through the Scheduled Caste Sub Plan (SCSP) and the Tribal Sub Plan (TSP), the Government of India is channeling funds from the Planning Commission for the development of SCs and STs respectively. Of the total Plan budget, as of 2001, the Government of India has earmarked 16 percent for the development of SCs and 8 per for the development of STs, in the Union and State Budgets.

Distribution of Tribes - List of Scheduled Tribes in India

The Scheduled Tribes have been recognized in 30 states/UTs, with 705 ethnic groupings, etc. being registered as Scheduled Tribes. According to the 2011 census, the country's tribal population is 10.43 crore, accounting for 8.6% of the overall population. They dwell in rural settings 89.97 percent of the time and urban areas 10.03 percent of the time. Between Census 2001 and 2011, the tribal population grew by 23.66 percent, compared to 17.69 percent for the whole population. The general sex ratio is 940 females per 1000 men, whereas Scheduled Tribes have a sex ratio of 990 females per thousand males.

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Scheduled Tribe Population in India State Wise

The state-wise tribal population in India is primarily found in two geographical areas: Central India and the North-Eastern Region. Madhya Pradesh (14.69 percent), Chhattisgarh (7.5 percent), Jharkhand (8.29 percent), Andhra Pradesh (5.7 percent), Maharashtra (10.08 percent), Orissa (9.2 percent), Gujarat (8.55%), and Rajasthan (8.86 percent) account for more than half of the Scheduled Tribe population in India. The North East is another region (Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur, Meghalaya, Tripura, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh). More than two-thirds of the country's ST population lives in just seven states: Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh. Because no Scheduled Tribe has been designated in three states (Delhi NCR, Punjab, and Haryana) and two UTs (Puducherry and Chandigarh), there is no ST population.

In this topic, you will also learn about articles 341 and 342 of the Indian constitution. Here’s all that you should know.

Definition of Scheduled Tribe

The phrase "Scheduled Tribes" was first used in the Indian Constitution. Scheduled tribes were defined in Article 366 (25) as "those tribes or tribal communities, or parts or groups within such tribes or tribal communities, as are regarded to be Scheduled Tribes for the purposes of this constitution under Article 342." Article 342, which is copied below, lays forth the method to be followed when it comes to naming scheduled tribes.

Article 342 of the Indian constitution

After consultation with the Governor and public notification, the President may, with respect to any State or Union Territory, and where it is a state, specify the tribes or tribal communities, or parts of or groups within tribes or tribal communities, that shall, for the purposes of this constitution, be deemed to be scheduled tribes in relation to that State or Union Territory, as the case may be.

Any tribe or tribal community, or part of or group within any tribe or tribal community, may be included in or excluded from the list of Scheduled tribes specified in a notification issued under clause(1) by law, but a notification issued under the said clause may not be varied by any subsequent notification, except as aforesaid.

Thus, after consultation with the State governments concerned, the first specification of Scheduled Tribes in relation to a particular State/Union Territory is through a notified order of the President. Only through an Act of Parliament can these orders be changed later

The aforementioned article also allows for the listing of scheduled tribes per state/union territory, rather than on a national level.

Indications of primitive features, distinctive culture, geographical isolation, shyness of contact with the community at large, and backwardness are used to define a community as scheduled tribes. This requirement is not explicitly stated in the Constitution, but it is widely accepted.

It incorporates the definitions from the 1931 census, the first Backward Classes Commission's reports from 1955, the Advisory Committee (Kalelkar) on Revision of SC/ST Lists (Lokur Committee), 1965, and the Joint Committee of Parliament on the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Orders (Amendment) Bill 1967 (Chanda Committee), 1969.

In exercise of the powers provided by Clause (1) of Article 342 of the Constitution of India, the President has proclaimed 9 orders identifying the Scheduled Tribes in respect to the state and union territories, after consultation with the state governments concerned. Eight of these are still operational today, either in their original or modified form. Due to the reorganization of Goa, Daman & Diu in 1987, one order, the Constitution (Goa, Daman & Diu) Scheduled Tribes order 1968, has become obsolete. The list of Scheduled Tribes of Goa has been transferred to part XIX of the Schedule to the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950, and that of Daman & Diu II of the Schedule to the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) (Union Territories) Order, 1951, under the Goa, Daman & Diu Reorganization Act 1987 (18 of 1987).

To know more about articles 341 and 342 of the Indian constitution, refer to the following questions below.