Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes


The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are officially designated groups of people and among the most disadvantaged socio-economic groups in India. The terms are recognized in the Constitution of India and the groups are designated in one or other of the categories. For much of the period of British rule in the Indian subcontinent, they were known as the Depressed Classes.
In modern literature, many castes under the Scheduled Castes category are sometimes referred to as Dalit, meaning "broken" or "dispersed". The term was popularised by the Dalit leader B. R. Ambedkar during the independence struggle. Ambedkar preferred the term Dalit over Gandhi's term Harijan, meaning "people of Hari". Similarly, the Scheduled Tribes are often referred to as Adivasi, Vanvasi and Vanyajati. However, the Government of India refrains from using these terms that carry controversial connotations. For example, 'Dalit', which literally means 'oppressed', has been historically associated with notions of uncleanness, carries implications of the concept of untouchability. Similarly, 'Adivasi', which means 'original inhabitants', carries implications of native and immigrant distinctions and also perpetuates the stereotypes of being civilized and uncivilized. Therefore, the constitutionally recognized terms "Scheduled Castes" ' and "Scheduled Tribes" ' are preferred in official usage, as these designated terms are intended to address socio-economic disabilities, rather than to reimpose those social stigmas and issues. In September 2018, the government issued an advisory to all private satellite channels asking them to refrain from using the derogatory nomenclature 'Dalit', though rights groups have come out against any shift from 'Dalit' in popular usage.
The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes comprise about 16.6% and 8.6%, respectively, of India's population. The Constitution Order, 1950 lists 1,108 castes across 28 states in its First Schedule, and the Constitution Order, 1950 lists 744 tribes across 22 states in its First Schedule.
Since the independence of India, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were given Reservation status, guaranteeing political representation, preference in promotion, quota in universities, free and stipended education, scholarships, banking services, various government schemes and the Constitution lays down the general principles of positive discrimination for SCs and STs.

Definition

; Scheduled Castes
Article 366 of the Constitution of India defines the Scheduled Castes as:
; Scheduled Tribes
Article 366 of the Constitution of India defines the Scheduled Tribes as:

Identification and procedures

Article 341
The President may with respect to any State or Union Territory and where it is a State after consultation with the Governor thereof, by public notification specify the castes, races or tribes or parts of or groups within castes, races or tribes which shall for the purposes of this Constitution be deemed to be Scheduled Castes in relation to that State or Union Territory, as the case may be.
Parliament may by law include in or exclude from the list of Scheduled Castes specified in a notification issued under clause of any caste, race or tribe or part of or group within any caste, race or tribe, but save as aforesaid a notification issued under the said clause shall not be varied by any subsequent notification.
Article 342
The President may with respect to any State or Union Territory and where it is a State, after consultation with the Governor thereof by public notification, specify the tribes or tribal communities or parts of or groups within tribes or tribal communities which shall for the purpose of this Constitution be deemed to be Scheduled Tribes in relation to that State or Union Territory, as the case may be.
Parliament may by law include in or exclude from the list of Scheduled Tribes specified in a notification issued under clause any tribe or tribal community or part of or group within any tribe or tribal community, but save as aforesaid a notification issued under the said clause shall not be varied by any subsequent notification.
The castes and tribes notified under Articles 341 and 342 of the Constitution of India are recognized as Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. For the purpose of social justice, those scheduled castes and tribes are provided social security and adequate representation in education, employment, and governance, facilitating their upliftment and integration into mainstream society. The process of including and excluding communities, castes, or tribes to/from the list of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes adheres to certain silent criteria and procedures established by the Lokur committee in 1965. For Scheduled Castes, the criteria involve extreme social, educational, and economic backwardness resulting from the practice of untouchability. On the other hand, Scheduled Tribes are identified based on indications of primitive traits, distinctive culture, geographical isolation, shyness of contact with the larger community, and overall backwardness. The scheduling process refers back to the definitions of communities used in the colonial census along with modern anthropological study and is guided by Article 341 and 342. Per the first clause of Article 341 and 342, the list of Scheduled communities is subject to specific state and union territory, with area restrictions to districts, subdistricts, and tehsils. Furthermore, members of Scheduled Communities are entitled based on religious criteria: Scheduled Castes must be adherents of Hinduism, Sikhism, or Buddhism, whereas Scheduled Tribes can belong to any religion to be recognized as Scheduled.

History

Pre-independence

The evolution of the lower caste and tribe into the modern-day Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe is complex. The caste system as a stratification of classes in India originated about 2,000 years ago, and has been influenced by dynasties and ruling elites, including the Mughal Empire and the British Raj. The Hindu concept of Varna historically incorporated occupation-based communities. Some low-caste groups, such as those formerly called untouchables who constitute modern-day Scheduled Castes, were considered outside the Varna system.
Since the 1850s, these communities were loosely referred to as Depressed Classes, with the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The early 20th century saw a flurry of activity in the British authorities assessing the feasibility of responsible self-government for India. The Morley–Minto Reforms Report, Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms Report and the Simon Commission were several initiatives in this context. A highly contested issue in the proposed reforms was the reservation of seats for representation of the Depressed Classes in provincial and central legislatures.
In 1935, the UK Parliament passed the Government of India Act 1935, designed to give Indian provinces greater self-rule and set up a national federal structure. The reservation of seats for the Depressed Classes was incorporated into the act, which came into force in 1937. The Act introduced the term "Scheduled Castes", defining the group as "such castes, parts of groups within castes, which appear to His Majesty in Council to correspond to the classes of persons formerly known as the 'Depressed Classes', as His Majesty in Council may prefer". This discretionary definition was clarified in The Government of India Order, 1936, which contained a list of castes throughout the British-administered provinces.

Post-independence

After independence the Constituent Assembly continued the prevailing definition of Scheduled Castes and Tribes, giving the president of India and governors of the states a mandate to compile a full listing of castes and tribes. The first list of castes and tribes was created through two orders: The Constitution Order, 1950, and The Constitution Order, 1950, containing 821 castes and 296 tribes, respectively, derived from colonial lists. Subsequently, the Presidential Scheduled List was modified in 1956 by the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Lists Order, 1956, to include other areas, newly formed states/UTs, and communities that had not been considered during the adoption of the Constitution of India. and The Constitution Order, 1950, However, the classification and maintenance of the list Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes was initially intended to be a state matter during drafting of the constitution, concerns over political misuse led to the centralization of authority under the Presidential Scheduled Lists. After 15 years since the order of listing Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, the government adopted updated criteria for inclusion and exclusion based on the Lokur committee report of 1965. Due to inclusive policies, many communities were added to the Presidential Scheduled List through amendments since the adoption of the Constitution, bringing the total to over 1,000 Scheduled Castes and over 500 Scheduled Tribes by 2018.

Demographics

Historical population

Current population

Religion

Literacy

Provisions

To effectively implement the safeguards built into the Constitution and other legislation, the Constitution under Articles 338 and 338A provides for two constitutional commissions: the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes. The chairpersons of both commissions sit ex officio on the National Human Rights Commission.
The Constitution provides a three-pronged strategy to improve the situation of SCs and STs:
  • Protective arrangements: Such measures as are required to enforce equality, to provide punitive measures for transgressions, and to eliminate established practices that perpetuate inequities. A number of laws were enacted to implement the provisions in the Constitution. Examples of such laws include the Untouchability Practices Act, 1955, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Act, 1989, The Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines Act, 1993, etc. Despite legislation, social discrimination and atrocities against the backward castes continued to persist.
  • Affirmative action: Provide positive treatment in allotment of jobs and access to higher education as a means to accelerate the integration of the SCs and STs with mainstream society. Affirmative action is popularly known as reservation. Article 16 of the Constitution states "nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any provisions for the reservation of appointments or posts in favor of any backward class of citizens, which, in the opinion of the state, is not adequately represented in the services under the State". The Supreme Court upheld the legality of affirmative action and the Mandal Commission. However, the reservations about affirmative action were only allotted in the public sector, not the private.
  • Development: Provide resources and benefits to bridge the socioeconomic gap between the SCs and STs and other communities. Legislation to improve the socioeconomic situation of SCs and STs because twenty-seven percent of SC and thirty-seven percent of ST households lived below the poverty line, compared to the mere eleven percent among other households. Additionally, the backward castes were poorer than other groups in Indian society, and they suffered from higher morbidity and mortality rates.