inaction on nomadic tribes report
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NAGPUR:
Denotified, nomadic and seminomadic tribes may now take up agitational
approach like 'jail bharo' or making an electoral strategy to exert
pressure on the government, warned Balkrishna Renke.
The Renke National Commission headed by him was appointed by the government of India in 2003 to suggest measures to improve the lot of the nomadic tribes to facilitate their assimilation in the national mainstream. After exhaustive study, the three-member Commission submitted its report July 2008. "The report is in a limbo. The government has neither rejected nor accepted it. It has, however, only indicated that some of the recommendations are implementable. But the affected tribes are losing patience," Renke told TOI on Wednesday. He said a three-member committee under him with Praful Patel and Bal Gurumurthy as members had been formed by the nomadic communities organization to suggest future course of action.
The Commission was first set up in November 2003 but reconstituted in March 2005 as the earlier commission could not make much headway. Its report made several recommendations, which include that same reservations as available to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes be extended to around 11 crore people of denotified and nomadic or seminomadic tribes in India; it also recommended that the provisions of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 be applicable to these tribes as well.
Earlier, speaking at a Meet the Press programme, Renke lamented the government indecision. There are 1620 nomadic tribes in the country living in pitiable condition because of lack of opportunities, he said. Citing the instance of Nat tribe of Chhattisgarh, he said, of the 75,000-strong community only three members were educated up to Class X and only seven were literate. Of the total nomadic tribe population, 27% have no documents to prove citizenship, 54% have no ration cards and largely no access to education.
"It is a shame that these communities have to live in abysmal conditions and many of them are still considered criminal tribes, a tag that the British gave them in 1871. Though in 1952 the Criminal Tribes Act was revoked by the government, it is a pity that the same mindset rules in the police department till date," said Renke.
The Renke National Commission headed by him was appointed by the government of India in 2003 to suggest measures to improve the lot of the nomadic tribes to facilitate their assimilation in the national mainstream. After exhaustive study, the three-member Commission submitted its report July 2008. "The report is in a limbo. The government has neither rejected nor accepted it. It has, however, only indicated that some of the recommendations are implementable. But the affected tribes are losing patience," Renke told TOI on Wednesday. He said a three-member committee under him with Praful Patel and Bal Gurumurthy as members had been formed by the nomadic communities organization to suggest future course of action.
The Commission was first set up in November 2003 but reconstituted in March 2005 as the earlier commission could not make much headway. Its report made several recommendations, which include that same reservations as available to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes be extended to around 11 crore people of denotified and nomadic or seminomadic tribes in India; it also recommended that the provisions of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 be applicable to these tribes as well.
Earlier, speaking at a Meet the Press programme, Renke lamented the government indecision. There are 1620 nomadic tribes in the country living in pitiable condition because of lack of opportunities, he said. Citing the instance of Nat tribe of Chhattisgarh, he said, of the 75,000-strong community only three members were educated up to Class X and only seven were literate. Of the total nomadic tribe population, 27% have no documents to prove citizenship, 54% have no ration cards and largely no access to education.
"It is a shame that these communities have to live in abysmal conditions and many of them are still considered criminal tribes, a tag that the British gave them in 1871. Though in 1952 the Criminal Tribes Act was revoked by the government, it is a pity that the same mindset rules in the police department till date," said Renke.
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