Lokur Committee (1965)

Topic: Safeguards for Vulnerable Sections: SCs, STs, OBCs, Minorities, Women and Children · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

The Lokur Committee (1965) was an official panel that set five tests for deciding whether a community should be listed as a Scheduled Tribe (ST). The five tests are primitive traits, distinct culture, geographical isolation, shyness of contact with the wider community, and backwardness.

The Constitution itself gives no test for who is a tribe. The Lokur tests fill that gap, and the government still uses them when it decides whether to add a community to the ST lists.

Explanation

Why a test was needed

• Art. 342 lets the President name the STs of each state or UT in an order.
• Art. 366(25) says that "Scheduled Tribes" are simply the groups named under Art. 342.
• The gap: the Constitution does not say what makes a group a "tribe". Only the list decides.
• The result: the government needed a working yardstick for its decisions on the list. The Lokur Committee (1965) gave it one.

The five tests

1. Primitive traits: old ways of life and work.
2. Distinct culture: the group's own language, customs, beliefs and festivals.
3. Geographical isolation: the group lives apart from others, often in hills and forests.
4. Shyness of contact: the group avoids mixing with the wider community.
5. Backwardness: the group is socially and economically behind others.

Limits of the tests

• They are not law. The tests are executive guidance (rules the government follows on its own). They are not written in the Constitution or in any Act.
• They do not change the list by themselves. Meeting the tests only supports a claim. A group is added only when Parliament passes a law under Art. 342(2).
• The words are outdated. Terms like "primitive" and "shy" reflect old colonial ideas about tribes.
• They miss changed realities:
• Many tribes no longer live in isolation.
• They still face real disadvantage.
• So a strict "isolation" test can leave out groups that need protection.

In the Constitution and practice

Where the tests are used: the ST listing procedure

Step	What happens	Who acts
1	The President notifies the first ST list for each state or UT by public notification (Art. 342(1))	President (for a state, after consulting the Governor)
2	A community is later added or removed only by a law of Parliament (Art. 342(2)). The Lokur tests are applied at this stage	Parliament, by a simple majority (more than half of the members present and voting). No constitutional amendment is needed
3	The change takes effect when the amending Act is notified	Union Government

• The lists are state-specific. A community can be an ST in one state and not in the next.
• State of Maharashtra v. Milind (2000): the Supreme Court held that courts and state governments cannot add to, remove from or change the SC/ST lists. Only Parliament can. So a group that seems to meet the Lokur tests still cannot get ST status from a court.
• No religion bar for STs: the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950 has no religion condition. The Lokur tests look at culture and backwardness, not religion. A tribal person who becomes a Christian or a Muslim stays an ST.
• Contrast: under para 3 of the SC Order, only Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists can be SCs [3].

Recent additions to the ST lists (the tests in action):

• Hattee community: added for the Trans-Giri area of Sirmaur district, Himachal Pradesh.
• Jammu and Kashmir (2024):
• The Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheduled Tribes Order (Amendment) Bill, 2024 added the "Pahari Ethnic Group", Paddari Tribe, Koli and Gadda Brahmin. The Lok Sabha passed it on 6 February 2024 and the Rajya Sabha on 9 February 2024. It amends the Constitution (J&K) ST Order, 1989 [2].

• The Government said the existing quota of the Gujjars and Bakarwals, who were already STs, would not be cut [2].

• Both cases show that Parliament changes the list by law, under Art. 342(2).

Don't confuse with

• PVTG criteria: the Lokur tests decide whether a group is an ST at all. The four PVTG tests pick out the most backward groups within the STs: pre-agricultural technology, low literacy, economic backwardness, and a stagnant or falling population.
• Dhebar Commission (1960-61): this was the first commission under Art. 339, and it reported on Scheduled Areas and ST welfare. It found big development gaps among STs, which later led to the PTG category. It did not set the tests for ST status.
• Xaxa Committee (2014): it studied the social, economic, health and education status of groups that are already STs. It found land alienation and displacement. It did not set the tests for inclusion.
• Art. 342 power vs Lokur tests: Art. 342 gives the legal power to list STs (the President, then Parliament). The Lokur tests only give the yardstick for using that power.

Prelims Hooks

• Lokur Committee (1965): five ST tests: primitive traits, distinct culture, geographical isolation, shyness of contact, backwardness. Trap: "religion" and "population size" are not among them.
• Art. 342 → STs; Art. 341 → SCs. After the first presidential list, a change needs a law of Parliament passed by simple majority, not a constitutional amendment.
• Art. 366(25): "Scheduled Tribes" means the groups listed under Art. 342. The Constitution gives no tribe test of its own.
• State of Maharashtra v. Milind (2000): courts and state governments cannot change the SC/ST lists.
• Trap: the ST Order, 1950 has no religion bar, but the SC Order (para 3) allows only Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists [3].
• 2024 J&K ST addition: Pahari Ethnic Group, Paddari Tribe, Koli and Gadda Brahmin [2].

Mains Points

• The tests are outdated:
• Words like "primitive" and "shy" carry colonial ideas about tribes.
• Vague tests leave room for political lobbying for inclusion, as in the Hattee and Pahari cases.

• Reform: set clear, evidence-based tests and run an open process through the NCST (Art. 338A) and the Registrar General of India.

• Isolation vs disadvantage:

• Many tribes are no longer isolated but still face disadvantage.
• A strict "geographical isolation" test can leave out the groups that need protection most.

• The tests should measure present disadvantage, not an old picture of tribal life.

• Listing alone is not enough:

• The Xaxa Committee (2014) found that land alienation and displacement continue for groups already on the list.
• Way forward: enforce PESA (1996) and the Forest Rights Act (2006), and give targeted help to the worst-off, such as PVTGs through PM-JANMAN [1].

Related concepts

• Scheduled Castes
• Scheduled Tribes
• Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order 1950
• K.G. Balakrishnan Commission
• Commission on Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes
• Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups
• PM-JANMAN
• Tribal Sub-Plan
• Xaxa Committee (2014)
• Denotified tribes

Read more

• Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes: identification and constitutional safeguards