Vulnerable Sections: Denotified Tribes

DNTs, the most vulnerable and deprived, are communities that were ‘notified’ as being ‘born criminal’ during the British regime under the Criminal Tribes Act, of 1871.
These are the most neglected, marginalised and economically and socially deprived communities.
Most of them have been living a life of destitution for generations and still continue to do so with an uncertain and gloomy future.
They somehow escaped the attention of our developmental framework and thus are deprived of the support unlike Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
DNTs are a heterogenous group engaged in various occupations such as transport, key making, salt trading, entertaining – acrobats, snake charmers, jugglers – and pastoralists.
Criminal Tribes Act, of 1871 was repealed by the Habitual Offenders Act, of 1952. Several DNTs were included in Scheduled Tribe (ST), Scheduled Caste (SC) and Other Backward Caste (OBC) lists because they come from diverse social backgrounds.
As per Renke Commission, 2008, there are nearly 1,500 nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes and 198 Denotified tribes, comprising 15 crore Indians.The Renke Commission estimated their population at around 10.74 crore based on Census 2001.
A new Commission in 2014 prepared a state-wise list and identified 1,262 communities as de-notified, nomadic and semi-nomadic.
31 August is celebrated as Vimukta Jatis Day in India by the DNTs communities.

Ayyangar Committee (1949): After the independence of India, the Criminal Tribes Enquiry Committee was set up in 1949-1950 and was chaired by M Ananthsayanam Ayyangar. It made several recommendations for the repeal of the Criminal Tribes Act. The Committee also emphasised the need for the allocation of adequate funds for their welfare and rehabilitation.
Kalelkar Committee (1953): The first Backward Class Commission was appointed in January 1953 under the Chairmanship of Mr Kakasaheb Kalelkar.
Idate Commission (2014): In February 2014, the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment took a historic decision to constitute a National Commission for Denotified, Nomadic, and Semi-Nomadic Tribes for three years

Scheme for Economic Empowerment of Denotified/ Nomadic/ Semi-Nomadic (SEED) Scheme – The scheme is meant for the upliftment of Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes (DNTs/NTs/SNTs). The objectives of the Scheme are to provide the following:
- Free competitive exam coaching to these students.
- Provide health insurance to families.
- Uplift clusters of these communities through livelihood initiatives.
- Provide financial assistance for housing.