<p>About 75 vulnerable tribal groups spread in 17 states and one Union Territory do not find mention in the schedule tribe (ST) list, despite the fact that their population is declining and they are far removed from reaping benefits of the socio-economic development, a standing committee report on social justice and empowerment said.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The standing committee, headed by Congress MP Hemanand Biswal, has suggested to the Tribal Ministry to protect the particularly vulnerable enthic groups and ensure their development in its report on “The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Second Amendment) Bill, 2012”. <br /><br />The bill seeks to re-include Marati community that resides primarily in Kasargod district of Kerala and also draft “Abujh Maria” and “Hill Korwa” groups into the list of STs.<br /><br />The Marati tribe enjoyed the status of ST both in Dakshina Kannada of Karnataka and Kasargod district of Kerala, respectively since 1950s. But, due to re-organisation of states in 1956, sections of Marati, essentially descendents of Marathi, living in Kasargod went to Kerala state.<br /><br /> Interestingly, without conducting any scientific study, Marati was taken off the ST list by the State in 2002 which has peeved the Parliamentary panel. Months later, the Kerala government recommended re-inclusion of the community in the schedule.<br />The request was forwarded by Registrar General of India, one of the stakeholders along with National C`ommission for Schedule Tribes (NCST) and Tribal Ministry in notifying tribes, last February to the NCST for including them in the list.<br /><br />Finally, the NCST held a meeting and gave its nod for bringing them back into the ST fold. During the submission before the Parliamentary panel, the NCST said that the community was delisted without conducting any scientific study. <br /><br />Deprived of benefits<br /><br />Panel Chairman Hemanand Biswal is said to have expressed his disappointment over the State government not following prescribed procedure while delisting Marati community in 2002 due to which a whole generation of the tribe was deprived of the benefits.<br /><br />The Tribal ministry decided to include Abujh Marias and Hill Korwas, though identified as vulnerable tribal groups, in the list of STs after receiving a letter from Chattisgarh governor in March 2011. The report says that these two communities have been identified as primitive tribes in the Madhya Pradesh as well Chattisgarh because they lag behind in education, socially and economically, from their other tribal counterparts.<br /><br />The standing committee in its report has stated that the process of including tribes is too subjective and archaic which needs a re-look.<br /><br />A comprehensive anthropological and socio-ecnomic studies should be conducted and backed by empirical evidence before either including or excluding tribes from the list.<br /></p>
<p>About 75 vulnerable tribal groups spread in 17 states and one Union Territory do not find mention in the schedule tribe (ST) list, despite the fact that their population is declining and they are far removed from reaping benefits of the socio-economic development, a standing committee report on social justice and empowerment said.<br /><br /></p>.<p>The standing committee, headed by Congress MP Hemanand Biswal, has suggested to the Tribal Ministry to protect the particularly vulnerable enthic groups and ensure their development in its report on “The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Second Amendment) Bill, 2012”. <br /><br />The bill seeks to re-include Marati community that resides primarily in Kasargod district of Kerala and also draft “Abujh Maria” and “Hill Korwa” groups into the list of STs.<br /><br />The Marati tribe enjoyed the status of ST both in Dakshina Kannada of Karnataka and Kasargod district of Kerala, respectively since 1950s. But, due to re-organisation of states in 1956, sections of Marati, essentially descendents of Marathi, living in Kasargod went to Kerala state.<br /><br /> Interestingly, without conducting any scientific study, Marati was taken off the ST list by the State in 2002 which has peeved the Parliamentary panel. Months later, the Kerala government recommended re-inclusion of the community in the schedule.<br />The request was forwarded by Registrar General of India, one of the stakeholders along with National C`ommission for Schedule Tribes (NCST) and Tribal Ministry in notifying tribes, last February to the NCST for including them in the list.<br /><br />Finally, the NCST held a meeting and gave its nod for bringing them back into the ST fold. During the submission before the Parliamentary panel, the NCST said that the community was delisted without conducting any scientific study. <br /><br />Deprived of benefits<br /><br />Panel Chairman Hemanand Biswal is said to have expressed his disappointment over the State government not following prescribed procedure while delisting Marati community in 2002 due to which a whole generation of the tribe was deprived of the benefits.<br /><br />The Tribal ministry decided to include Abujh Marias and Hill Korwas, though identified as vulnerable tribal groups, in the list of STs after receiving a letter from Chattisgarh governor in March 2011. The report says that these two communities have been identified as primitive tribes in the Madhya Pradesh as well Chattisgarh because they lag behind in education, socially and economically, from their other tribal counterparts.<br /><br />The standing committee in its report has stated that the process of including tribes is too subjective and archaic which needs a re-look.<br /><br />A comprehensive anthropological and socio-ecnomic studies should be conducted and backed by empirical evidence before either including or excluding tribes from the list.<br /></p>