ePaper | “Criminality by birth” is an abhorrent colonial doctrine”: Harness the potential of Denotified Tribes, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes for national development

What is the “Criminal Tribes Act” all about?
And what can be done to help the countless victims of stigmatization and deprivation?

To learn more, download the full TAG report:
“RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE TECHNICAL ADVISORY GROUP 2006” (Backup PDF, 1 MB, 361 pages) including the entire text of the final recommendations providing a road-map for the long term development of the Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-nomadic Communities and Tribes, a Bibliography and other historical sources, dated 20 November 2006)

This comprehensive report outlines the steps to be taken in order to alleviate the suffering of countless innocent people, caused by social stigma just as discrimination: disadvantages that render them vulnerable to social exclusion or exploitation on an enormous scale, particularly children and women. It also provides educators, students, researchers, officials, journalists and community workers with valuable insights.

Media persons/students of journalism may also consider reading “Proper coverage of “deprivation”: Ethical considerations for students of Indian journalism“. Book recommendation: Prof. G. N. Devy (Co-founder of the Denotified and Nomadic Tribes Rights Action Group): A Nomad Called Thief: Reflections on Adivasi Silence and Voice by GN Devy (Orient Blackswan, 2006, 199 pages. ISBN 978-81-250-3021-8). Find a library copy on WorldCat.org >>

Report and Recommendations of the Technical Advisory Group

The process of Notification of innocent communities [like] traders, itinerant entertainers, peasants and disbanded soldiers, begun in 1871 through enactment of the Criminal Tribes Act, should have come to an end soon after Independence. Instead, a Habitual Offenders Act was slapped on them, and their sufferings continued through the last six decades. This entire episode of turning innocent and defenseless communities into vulnerable and victimized groups has been a chapter of shame in India’s social history. […]

pp. 42-51

Historical Background: How the Criminal Tribes Act came into existence
The history of the Denotified communities is a poignant one. Historically speaking, there were political and social reasons for declaring such large number of whole communities criminal, and it needs to be put on record as to how such a process with long-term consequences was put into action. A study of the records of the late nineteenth century shows that due to a set of colonial policies, certain communities lost their livelihood, and this lack of work got linked to the concept of such communities living by crime. (Even in England, lack of “ostensible means of livelihood” made a person qualify as a potential criminal at that time.) In fact, it was officially recognised that the British administration’s economic policies, aimed at raising revenue, had made the itinerant communities economically redundant and anachronistic.

p. 51
13. Socio-economic and Educational needs of Denotified Tribes, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes
“The DNT have been the victims of the doctrine of criminality by birth. This concept is abhorrent to the present-day thinking […]”

p. 80, 1.3.-1.4.
The Criminal Tribes Act 1871-1911 was repealed in Madras in 1947 and Bombay in 1949 and more generally, in 1952 (following the All India Criminal Tribes Enquiry Committee of 1949). However, the plight of these ‘so-called’ tribes — now statutorily renamed ‘denotified communities’ (DC) or vimukta jatis has worsened. According to one estimate drawn from the census, the Census of 1961 placed their number at 27,102,180 in 1961. Such estimates are inexact. Various government reports simply refer to these communities as “unspecified”. A large number of peoples are thus, even excluded from the memory of enumeration.
Although British settlements for these communities proved to be persecutorial ghettos, some ameliorative measures were suggested for their plight – a sentiment echoed in the Report of the Backward Classes Commission (1955) – but, never firmly put into effect.
None the less, the possible benefits of the repeal of the Criminal Tribes Act in 1952 was short lived, in that ‘Habitual Offenders’ legislation was passed by various States opening up precisely the same avenues for mal-identification and persecution as the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871.

p. 89
“[T]he problems of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes are […] part of the central and core problems of the country. These three categories of people constitute about 3/4th of the population of the country and almost the entire physical labour force of the country is drawn from them. It is the failure to tackle their problems so as to remove their disabilities and secure their full potential for national development that lies at the root of the many weaknesses faced by post-Independence India to this day. Therefore, these issues and the remedial measures should be approached as central and core concerns of India.”

p. 8
1.8 Third Meeting of Technical Advisory Group:
The suggestions made by Members of the Technical advisory Group during the meeting held on 12th October 2006 were properly recorded, and, together with other suggestions made in the past by the following Government Bodies and Commissions, they were circulated among the Members for discussion leading to the formulation of the Report and Recommendations of the Technical Advisory Group:

a) The National Commission for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-nomadic Tribes;
b) The National Human Rights Commission;
c) The Commission for Review of the Working of the Constitution;
d) The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment;

Reference documents presented during the meeting to the Members of the Technical Advisory Group included the following:
a) The Criminal Tribes Act, 1871
b) The Criminal Tribes Act, 1897
c) The Criminal Tribes Act, 1911
d) The Criminal Tribes Act, 1823
e) The Criminal tribes Act, 1924
f) The Bombay Habitual Offenders Act, 1959
g) The Listing of Communities Notified as ‘Criminal Tribes’ up to 1952
h) The listing of Communities as SC or ST in some states as samples
i) The description of some of the Denotified Tribes in official Anthropological sources

pp. 9-10
The Report and Recommendations are being presented here in two parts:

Part One: containing the entire set of suggestions received from Members of TAG, suggestions emerging from various former reports, judgements and responses by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to petitions, as well as texts of various Criminal Tribes Acts enacted during the colonial times. In addition it contains official documents produced by Government authorities that perpetuate the stigma attached to the Denotified communities and deepen the stereotyping of which these communities have been the unfortunate victim. This Part of the Report also contains the ‘Foreword’ and the entire text of the final recommendations providing a road-map for the long term development of the Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-nomadic Communities and Tribes.

Part Two: containing the ‘Foreword’ and the ‘Recommendations’.

1.12 Members of the Technical Advisory Group would like to place on record their sense of satisfaction in being able to fulfill the obligations placed upon them by the Government of India within the specified time limit. TAG feels happy that the formulations offered as ‘Recommendations’ are unanimously approved by all members of the Group. The process of Notification of innocent communities traders, itinerant entertainers, peasants and disbanded soldiers, begun in 1871 through enactment of the Criminal Tribes Act, should have come to an end soon after Independence. Instead, a Habitual Offenders Act was slapped on them, and their sufferings continued through the last six decades. This entire episode of turning innocent and defenseless communities into vulnerable and victimized groups has been a chapter of shame in India’s social history. During the last twenty years, there has been a strong movement shaping up from the grass-roots, which has sought to restore dignity and human rights to these communities. It is a gratifying thought that the Prime Minister of India took a special interest in the issue and the Government decided to invite the Technical Advisory Group to offer its opinion on the aspirations of the Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-nomadic Tribes and Communities, and the ways in which these aspirations need to reflect in law, the rights-discourse and welfare measures. Members of TAG would like to place on record their deep sense of appreciation for the Government’s measure of initiating official thinking on this long-standing issue.

20 November 2006 New Delhi

Source: RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE TECHNICAL ADVISORY GROUP [TAG], New Delhi, 2006 (Backup PDF, 1 MB, 361 pages)
URL: http://www.bhasharesearch.org/Reports/TAG%20Report.pdf
Date visited: 19 March 2020

[Bold typeface added above for emphasis]

“India, also known as Bharat, is a Union of States. It is a Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic with a parliamentary system of government.” – Constitution of India

Source: National Portal of India
Learn more about the Indian Constitution and decisions by India’s Supreme Court >>

ADIVASI Special Issue Folio 16 July 2000
Download the issue (PDF, 969 KB) >>

“In 1871, the British passed the ‘Criminal Tribes Act.’ It notified about 150 tribes around India as criminal, giving the police wide powers to arrest them and monitor their movements. The effect of this law was simple: just being born into one of those 150 tribes made you a criminal.” – Dilip D’Souza in “Vicious cycle” | Read the full article in the Adivasi Special issue (The Hindu) >>

“None the less, the possible benefits of the repeal of the Criminal Tribes Act in 1952 was short lived, in that ‘Habitual Offenders’ legislation was passed by various States opening up precisely the same avenues for mal- identification and persecution as the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871.” – Report and Recommendations of the Technical Advisory Group, p. 80 >>

“More than 10 crore [100 million] Indians from 1,400 communities belong to Denotified, Nomadic, Semi-nomadic (SEED) Tribes.” – Abhinay Lakshman in “Denotified, nomadic, semi-nomadic tribes: 402 SEED registrations so far online, none approved yet” (The Hindu, 29 August 2022) | Learn more >>

Up-to-date reports by Indian journalists and commentators

To search Indian periodicals, magazines, web portals and other sources safely, click here. To find an Indian PhD thesis on a particular tribal community, region and related issues, click here >>

Search tips

Combine the name of any particular state, language or region with that of any tribal (Adivasi) community.

Add keywords of special interest (music, poetry, dance just as health, sacred grove and biodiversity); learn about the rights of Scheduled Tribes such as the “Forest Rights Act” (FRA); and the United Nations “Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples”, “Universal Declaration of Human Rights”, “women’s rights”, or “children’s right to education”.

Ask a question that includes “tribal” or “Adivasi”, for instance: “Adivasi way of life better?” (or “tribal way of life worse?”)

Specify any particular issue or news item (biodiversity, bonded labour and human trafficking, climate change, ecology, economic development, ethnobotany, ethnomedicine, global warming, hunter-gatherers in a particular region or state, prevention of rural poverty, water access).

For official figures include “scheduled tribe ST” along with a union state or region: e.g. “Chhattisgarh ST community”, “Himalayan tribe”, “Scheduled tribe Tamil Nadu census”, “ST Kerala census”, “Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group Jharkhand”, “PVTG Rajasthan”, “Adivasi ST Kerala”, “Adibasi ST West Bengal” etc.

SafeSearch browser tips

If your (mobile) browser fails to display “embedded” media contents, Google maps and SafeSearch windows

Try another browser like Firefox, Chrome or Safari available on your device

Ensure your favourite browser is up to date

Close your present browser

Check your browser and mobile (gsm) settings:
e.g. permission for video or JavaScript
(seen under Preferences >Security >Enable JavaSript)

Restart your computer (smartphone, tablet)

Reconnect to your wifi network or connect to a different one

On some iPhone models the following helps:

>Settings >Safari >scroll down to:
SETTING FOR WEBSITES

Enable “Request Desktop Website” (All Websites) temporarily

Return to the map-post in Safari and “Reload”

Return to >Settings and disable “Request Desktop Website” again

Return to the post in Safari and “Reload”which should now display “embedded” contents as intended (with the convenience of browsing the mobile version on a small screen)

Note: similar solutions may also work with other mobile operating systems.

“In fact, we still do not know to what extent global supply chains are maintained by slavery and child labor. Because of these and other factors, slavery today is more profitable than ever before, and also more woven into the global economy than ever before.” – Siddharth Kara on the persistence of modern slavery| Learn more >>

Human trafficking is a crime. To report in India, call
– Shakti Vahini +91-11-42244224, +91-9582909025 or
– Childline 1098 (national helpline)

Human Rights Commission (posts) | www.nhrc.nic.in (Government of India) >>

Learn more

Accountability

Adivasi (Adibasi)

Adverse inclusion | “Casteism” and its effect on tribal communities

Biodiversity and development – Jharkhand

Bondage | Bonded labour | Human trafficking | Slavery | Zamindari

Chief Justice of India | Imprisonment & rehabilitation

Childhood | Child marriage | Children’s right to Education

Colonial policies | Freedom Struggle | Independence

Community facilities | NGO | Organizations

eLearning | “National development and the development of tribal communities are linked to each other”: Droupadi Murmu – 15th President of India