Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes: identification and constitutional safeguards

Detail

1. Who are SCs and STs?

• Scheduled Castes (SCs): castes named in a presidential order under Art. 341.
• Most of these castes were once treated as "outcaste" and suffered untouchability (being kept apart and treated as "impure" because of caste).

• They are commonly called Dalits, meaning "the broken" or "the oppressed".

• Scheduled Tribes (STs): communities named in a presidential order under Art. 342.

• They have their own cultures, and many live in hills and forests.

• They are often called Adivasis ("original inhabitants").

• Population (Census 2011): SCs were 16.6% and STs 8.6% of India's people (NCERT: Class 10, "Gender, Religion and Caste").

• Art. 366(24) and (25): these clauses define "Scheduled Castes" and "Scheduled Tribes" as the groups listed under Arts. 341 and 342. The Constitution itself gives no caste or tribe test. The lists alone decide who counts.

2. How the lists are made: the procedure

Step	What happens	Who acts
1	The President notifies the first list for each state or UT by public notification	President (for a state, after consulting the Governor)
2	After that, a group can be added or removed only by a law of Parliament (Arts. 341(2) and 342(2))	Parliament, by a simple majority (more than half of members present and voting). No constitutional amendment is needed
3	The change takes effect when the amending Act is notified	Union Government

• Key point: a list is state-specific. A caste can be an SC in one state and not in the next state. A migrant's SC/ST status usually stays tied to the person's home state.
• State of Maharashtra v. Milind (2000): the Supreme Court held that neither courts nor state governments can add to, remove from or change the lists. They also cannot hold that a group is "part of" a listed caste or tribe. Only Parliament can.
• SC sub-classification (2024): in State of Punjab v. Davinder Singh (2024), a seven-judge Bench held by 6:1 that states may sub-classify SCs (divide them into sub-groups so that the most backward get a share of the quota). This overruled E.V. Chinnaiah (2004). Sub-classification is not the same as changing the list. The President's list stays as it is, and only Parliament can alter it. (Full treatment in the section on sub-classification.)

3. The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 and the religion bar

• Para 3 of the Order: no person who professes a religion other than Hinduism, Sikhism or Buddhism can be treated as an SC [6].
• At first (1950) the Order covered Hindus only.
• Sikhs were added in 1956.

• Buddhists were added in 1990.

• Result: Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims are left out. They cannot get SC quotas or the benefits of SC welfare schemes paid for by the Centre [6].

• In some states, SC converts to Christianity are on the Central OBC list. They get OBC reservation in Central Government jobs [6].
• Whether to give them SC status is sub judice (pending before a court). Petitions in the Supreme Court are still undecided [6].

• For the Ranganath Misra Commission's view (it favoured removing the religion bar), see Section 8.

• K.G. Balakrishnan Commission (October 2022): a commission led by a former Chief Justice of India. It is examining whether "new persons" who say they belong to the SCs but have changed to a religion outside para 3 should get SC status. Check its current status and any report before the exam.

• Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950: it has no religion bar. A tribal person who becomes a Christian or a Muslim stays an ST.

4. How STs are identified: the Lokur Committee (1965)

• The Lokur Committee (1965) was 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

• Criticism: words like "primitive" and "shy" are outdated. Many tribes no longer fit "isolation" but still face disadvantage.

• Recent additions to the ST lists:
• Hattee community of the Trans-Giri area of Sirmaur district, Himachal Pradesh.
• Jammu and Kashmir: 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 existing quota of the Gujjars and Bakarwals, who were already STs [3].
• Both additions show Step 2 of the procedure: Parliament changes the list by law.

5. Constitutional safeguards and what each does

Article	What it does
15(4)	Lets the State make special provisions for SCs and STs (for example, in education). See Section 4
16(4)	Lets the State reserve government jobs for backward classes not fairly represented. See Section 5
17	Abolishes untouchability and makes practising it a punishable offence. See Section 3
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 SCs and STs and protect them from social injustice and exploitation
330	Reserves seats for SCs and STs in the Lok Sabha
332	Reserves seats for SCs and STs in state Legislative Assemblies
334	Sunset clause (a built-in end date) for seat reservation. The 104th Amendment (2019) extended it to 25 January 2030
335	SC/ST claims to government jobs must be balanced with administrative efficiency. The 82nd Amendment (2000) added a proviso that allows relaxed marks and standards for SCs and STs in promotions. See Section 5
338	National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC)
338A	National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST). The 89th Amendment (2003) split the old joint commission into two. Composition: see constitutional-bodies
339	Commission on Scheduled Areas and STs, plus Union 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 and Tribal Areas (pointer only)

Seats in legislatures (Arts. 330, 332)

• Seats are reserved in line with the SC or ST share of the population in that state.
• Since the 2008 delimitation (the redrawing of constituency boundaries), the Lok Sabha has 84 SC and 47 ST seats out of 543.
• Everyone in a reserved seat votes. Only the candidate must be an SC or ST. Voters are not split by caste.

Commission on Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes (Art. 339)

• Art. 339(1): the President may appoint this commission at any time. The President must appoint one ten years after 1950. It reports on how Scheduled Areas are run and on the welfare of STs.
• Dhebar Commission (1960-61): the first such commission. It noticed big gaps in development among STs. This later led to the separate category of PTGs (see §6).

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

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

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

• Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha must have a minister in charge of tribal welfare.
• This minister may also look after the welfare of SCs and backward classes.
• The 94th Amendment (2006) replaced Bihar with Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand in this list. Most tribal areas of Bihar had gone to Jharkhand when it was created in 2000.

Grants for ST welfare (Art. 275(1))

• First proviso: the Centre gives grants-in-aid (money from the Consolidated Fund of India) to states for ST welfare schemes and to raise the standard of administration in Scheduled Areas.
• Second proviso: gives similar grants to Assam for its tribal areas.

Art. 244 (pointer)

• Fifth Schedule: covers Scheduled Areas in most states.
• Sixth Schedule: covers Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) (elected local bodies with powers to make laws and run tribal areas) in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.
• PESA (Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996) gives gram sabhas power over land and resources in Fifth Schedule areas.
• Details are in the section on Scheduled and Tribal Areas.

6. Tribal development beyond quotas

Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)

• PVTGs: the most backward groups within the STs. They need special, targeted help.
• 1975: 52 groups were identified as Primitive Tribal Groups (PTGs).
• 2006: they were renamed PVTGs.

• Today: 75 PVTGs live in 18 states and one UT (Andaman and Nicobar Islands) [2].

• Four tests: 1. Pre-agricultural technology (hunting, gathering, shifting cultivation) 2. Low literacy 3. Economic backwardness 4. Stagnant or falling population

PM-JANMAN (Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan)

• Launch: by the Prime Minister on 15 November 2023 (Janjatiya Gaurav Divas, the birth anniversary of Birsa Munda) [2].
• Aim: bring 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].
• Delivery: 11 interventions run by 9 line ministries, including Rural Development, School Education, Women and Child Development, and Drinking Water and Sanitation [2].

Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP)

• Tribal Sub-Plan (from 1974-75, Fifth Five-Year Plan): development money is set aside for STs at least in line with their share of the population. It is tracked as a separate budget head so that the money is not moved elsewhere.
• Now: it runs as the Development Action Plan for STs (DAPST).
• SC equivalent: the Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan, now the Development Action Plan for SCs (DAPSC).

Xaxa Committee (2014)

• Xaxa Committee (2014): a high-level committee headed by Virginius Xaxa. It studied the social, economic, health and education status of STs.
• What it found:
• STs lose land to outsiders (land alienation).
• STs are pushed out by dams, mines and industries (displacement).

• STs are far behind others in health and education.

• What it asked for: strict enforcement of PESA (1996) and the Forest Rights Act (2006) (the law that recognises the rights of forest dwellers over forest land and produce).

7. Denotified tribes (DNTs)

• Denotified tribes: communities that colonial law branded "born criminals".
• Criminal Tribes Act, 1871: whole communities were notified as "criminal". Their members had to register with the police and could not move freely.
• 1949: the Act was repealed.
• 1952: these tribes were denotified (taken off the "criminal" list). This gave them the name "denotified tribes".

• After 1952: state Habitual Offenders laws kept the stigma alive in practice.

• Commissions:

• Renke Commission (2008): the first National Commission for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes.

• Idate Commission (2017): the second such commission.

• Development and Welfare Board for De-notified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Communities (DWBDNC): set up by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in 2019 [5].

• SEED (Scheme for Economic Empowerment of DNTs):
• Launch: 16 February 2022, for 5 years, with an outlay of ₹200 crore [4].
• Four parts: coaching for competitive exams, health insurance, community livelihood support, and help to build houses [4].
• Who qualifies: families earning ₹2.5 lakh a year or less that do not get similar benefits from another scheme [4].
• FY 2024-25: ₹32.43 crore was used. It reached 32,936 people under livelihood, 551 under coaching and 2,608 under health insurance [4].

Prelims Hooks

• Art. 341 → SCs; Art. 342 → STs. The President notifies the first list after consulting the Governor. Later changes need a law of Parliament, not a constitutional amendment.
• State of Maharashtra v. Milind (2000): courts and state governments cannot change the SC/ST lists.
• Para 3, SC Order 1950: only Hindus, Sikhs (1956) and Buddhists (1990) can be SCs. Trap: the ST Order has no religion bar.
• Lokur Committee (1965): five ST tests: primitive traits, distinct culture, geographical isolation, shyness of contact, backwardness.
• 89th Amendment (2003): split the old body into NCSC (Art. 338) and NCST (Art. 338A). 104th Amendment (2019): extended SC/ST seat reservation (Art. 334) to 2030.
• Art. 164(1) proviso: tribal welfare minister in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, MP and Odisha. Trap: Bihar was removed by the 94th Amendment (2006).
• Dhebar (1960-61) and Bhuria (2002-04): commissions under Art. 339. Art. 339(2) lets the Union direct states on ST welfare.
• PVTGs: 52 identified in 1975, renamed in 2006, now 75 in 18 states + A&N. PM-JANMAN began on 15 Nov 2023, with ₹24,104 crore through 9 ministries [2].
• 2024 J&K ST addition: Pahari Ethnic Group, Paddari, Koli and Gadda Brahmin [3].
• Criminal Tribes Act 1871 → repealed 1949 → denotified 1952. SEED was launched on 16 Feb 2022 [4].

Mains Points

• Religion-neutral SC status: para 3 links caste disadvantage to religion. But Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims also face caste discrimination, as Ranganath Misra argued.
• Counter-arguments: these religions officially reject caste, and existing SC groups fear a smaller share of the quota.

• Status: the Supreme Court cases and the K.G. Balakrishnan Commission are still pending.

• Outdated ST criteria: the Lokur tests ("primitive", "shy") use colonial ideas and give room for political lobbying for inclusion (for example, Hattee and Pahari).

• 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 land alienation and displacement continuing despite reserved seats.

• Way forward: enforce PESA and the Forest Rights Act, keep DAPST money ring-fenced, and give targeted help to the worst-off (PVTGs through PM-JANMAN).

• Link: this also supports the 2024 case for sub-classification within SCs.

• Denotified tribes: they are not a separate constitutional category. Many are spread across the SC, ST and OBC lists, or are on none.

• Problem: Habitual Offenders laws keep the stigma alive.
• Reform: repeal these laws (as the Idate Commission and the UN's CERD committee have urged) and fund schemes beyond SEED's ₹200 crore.