Scheduled Tribes

Also called: Adivasis, Article 342 · Topic: Safeguards for Vulnerable Sections: SCs, STs, OBCs, Minorities, Women and Children · NCERT: Class 10, Ch 3 "Gender, Religion and Caste"

Meaning

Scheduled Tribes (STs) are the tribal communities that the President names in a public notification under Article 342, for each state or Union Territory. After the first list, only a law of Parliament can add or remove a group. Being on this list is what gives a community the special safeguards the Constitution provides for STs. These include reserved seats, job and education quotas, and protection of their land and way of life.

Explanation

What makes a group an ST

• Art. 366(25) says "Scheduled Tribes" means the groups listed under Art. 342.
• The Constitution itself gives no test for who is a tribe.

• The list alone decides. If a group is not on the list, it is not an ST in law, however "tribal" it may look.

• STs have their own cultures, and many live in hills and forests. They are often called Adivasis ("original inhabitants").

• Population (Census 2011): STs were 8.6% of India's people (NCERT: Class 10, "Gender, Religion and Caste").

• Lokur Committee (1965): an official panel that set five tests for ST status. The government still uses them: 1. Primitive traits (old ways of life and work) 2. Distinct culture 3. Geographical isolation (living apart, in hills and forests) 4. Shyness of contact with the wider community 5. Backwardness

• These tests guide the government. They are not written in the Constitution.

How the ST list is made: the procedure

Step	What happens	Who acts / majority needed
1	The President issues the first list for a state or UT by public notification (Art. 342(1))	President. For a state, only after consulting the Governor
2	Later, a group can be added or removed only by a law of Parliament (Art. 342(2))	Parliament, by a simple majority (more than half of the members present and voting). No constitutional amendment is needed
3	The change comes into force when the amending Act is notified	Union Government

• The list is state-specific. A tribe can be an ST in one state and not in the next. A migrant's ST status usually stays tied to the person's home state.
• Courts and state governments cannot change the list. Only Parliament can (State of Maharashtra v. Milind, 2000).

Key features and limits

• No religion bar. The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950 does not depend on religion.
• A tribal person who becomes a Christian or a Muslim stays an ST.

• SCs are different. Only Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists can be SCs.

• Inequality within STs. Some ST groups are much further behind than others.

• So the most backward among them are treated as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) and get targeted help.

• Seat reservation has an end date. Under Art. 334, a sunset clause (a built-in end date), reserved seats for STs last only until a fixed date. That date is now 25 January 2030.

In the Constitution and practice

Main constitutional safeguards for STs

Article	What it does
15(4)	Lets the State make special provisions for STs, for example in education
16(4)	Lets the State reserve government jobs for backward classes that are not fairly represented
46	A Directive Principle (a goal the State must follow when making policy, though courts cannot enforce it): promote the education and economic interests of STs and protect them from social injustice and exploitation
330 / 332	Reserve seats for STs in the Lok Sabha and in state Legislative Assemblies
334	Sunset clause for seat reservation. The 104th Amendment (2019) extended it to 25 January 2030
335	ST claims to government jobs must be balanced with administrative efficiency. The 82nd Amendment (2000) allows relaxed marks and standards in promotions
338A	National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST). The 89th Amendment (2003) split the old joint SC/ST commission into two
339	Commission on Scheduled Areas and STs. Also lets the Union give directions to states
164(1) proviso	A tribal welfare minister is required in four states
275(1) provisos	Grants from the Centre for ST welfare
244 + Fifth and Sixth Schedules	Special administration of Scheduled Areas and Tribal Areas

Seats in legislatures (Arts. 330, 332)

• Seats are reserved in line with the ST share of each state's population.
• Since the 2008 delimitation (the redrawing of constituency boundaries), the Lok Sabha has 47 ST seats out of 543.
• Everyone in the constituency votes. Only the candidate must be an ST.

Commission under Art. 339

• Art. 339(1): the President may set up this commission at any time and had to set one up ten years after 1950.
• Dhebar Commission (1960-61): the first one. It found big gaps in development among STs. This later led to the category of Primitive Tribal Groups.

• Bhuria Commission (2002-04): the second one, chaired by Dilip Singh Bhuria.

• Art. 339(2): the Union can direct a state to plan and carry out schemes for ST welfare. This is a rare case where the Centre can give orders to a state on a welfare matter.

Tribal welfare minister (Art. 164(1) proviso)

• Required in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha. This minister may also look after SCs and backward classes.
• The 94th Amendment (2006) took Bihar off this list and added Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.
• Most of Bihar's tribal areas had gone to Jharkhand when it was created in 2000.

Grants (Art. 275(1))

• First proviso: grants-in-aid from the Consolidated Fund of India to states for ST welfare schemes and for better administration of Scheduled Areas.
• Second proviso: similar grants to Assam for its tribal areas.

Tribal areas (Art. 244)

• Fifth Schedule: covers Scheduled Areas in most states.

• PESA, 1996 (Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act) gives gram sabhas power over land and resources in these areas.

• Sixth Schedule: sets up Autonomous District Councils (elected local bodies that can make laws for and run tribal areas) in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.

Landmark case

• State of Maharashtra v. Milind (2000): the Supreme Court held that courts and state governments cannot add to, remove from or change the ST list.
• They also cannot declare that a group is "part of" a listed tribe.
• Only Parliament can change the list.

Recent additions: Parliament acting under Art. 342(2)

• Hattee community of 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 [3].
• The Government said this would not cut the quota of the Gujjars and Bakarwals, who were already STs [3].

Development beyond quotas

• PVTGs:
• 1975: 52 groups were identified as Primitive Tribal Groups.
• 2006: they were renamed PVTGs.
• Today: 75 PVTGs live in 18 states and one UT (Andaman and Nicobar Islands) [2].

• Four tests: pre-agricultural technology (hunting, gathering, shifting cultivation), low literacy, economic backwardness, and a stagnant or falling population.

• PM-JANMAN: launched on 15 November 2023 (Janjatiya Gaurav Divas, Birsa Munda's birth anniversary) [2].

• It brings housing, roads, piped water, health, education and livelihoods to PVTG habitations.
• Outlay: ₹24,104 crore. The Centre pays ₹15,336 crore and the states ₹8,768 crore [2].

• It runs 11 interventions through 9 line ministries [2].

• Tribal Sub-Plan (from 1974-75, Fifth Five-Year Plan): sets aside development money for STs at least in line with their share of the population.

• The money is kept under a separate budget head so it cannot be moved elsewhere.

• It now runs as the Development Action Plan for STs (DAPST).

• Xaxa Committee (2014): headed by Virginius Xaxa.

• It found that STs lose land to outsiders (land alienation).
• It found that dams, mines and industries push them out (displacement).
• It found that STs are far behind others in health and education.
• It asked for strict enforcement of PESA (1996) and the Forest Rights Act (2006).

Don't confuse with

• Scheduled Castes (Art. 341): SCs are listed under Art. 341, and the SC Order, 1950 has a religion bar (only Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists can be SCs). The ST Order has no religion bar.
• Scheduled Areas / Tribal Areas (Art. 244, Fifth and Sixth Schedules): these are territories with special administration. "Scheduled Tribes" are communities. An ST person living outside a Scheduled Area is still an ST.
• PVTGs: this is not a separate constitutional list. PVTGs are the most backward groups within the STs, picked out by the government for targeted schemes such as PM-JANMAN.
• Denotified tribes: communities branded "criminal" under the Criminal Tribes Act, 1871 (repealed in 1949, denotified in 1952). They are not a constitutional category. Some are on the ST, SC or OBC lists, and some are on none.

Prelims Hooks

• Art. 342 → STs; Art. 366(25) → definition. The President notifies the first list after consulting the Governor. Later changes need an ordinary law of Parliament, not a constitutional amendment.
• State of Maharashtra v. Milind (2000): courts and state governments cannot change the ST list.
• Trap: the ST Order, 1950 has no religion bar. A tribal convert to Christianity or Islam stays an ST.
• Lokur Committee (1965): five tests: primitive traits, distinct culture, geographical isolation, shyness of contact, backwardness.
• 89th Amendment (2003) created the NCST (Art. 338A). The 104th Amendment (2019) extended ST seat reservation (Art. 334) to 2030. The Lok Sabha has 47 ST seats.
• Art. 164(1) proviso: a tribal welfare minister is required in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, MP and Odisha. Trap: Bihar was removed by the 94th Amendment (2006). PVTGs: 75 in 18 states + A&N [2].

Mains Points

• Outdated identification tests: the Lokur tests ("primitive", "shy") come from colonial ideas.
• Many tribes no longer live in isolation but are still disadvantaged.
• Vague tests leave room for political lobbying for inclusion, as in the Hattee and Pahari cases.

• Reform: clear, evidence-based tests and an open process run through the NCST and the Registrar General of India.

• Quotas alone are not enough: the Xaxa Committee (2014) showed that land alienation and displacement continue despite reserved seats.

• Way forward: enforce PESA (1996) and the Forest Rights Act (2006), keep DAPST money ring-fenced, and use Art. 339(2) directions where states fall short.

• Gaps within STs: the Dhebar Commission first saw that benefits do not reach all STs equally.

• Targeted help for the worst-off, such as PVTGs through PM-JANMAN (₹24,104 crore) [2], is needed alongside general ST quotas.
• This links to the wider debate on sub-classification within reserved categories.

Related concepts

• Scheduled Castes
• Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order 1950
• K.G. Balakrishnan Commission
• Lokur Committee (1965)
• 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