Denotified tribes’ anger boiling over amid a stagnating scheme and classification deadlocks

With the Centre’s SEED scheme for denotified tribes just about taking off, caste certificates being denied to them in 29 States, and the Idate Commission’s 2017 report in cold storage, anger amongst the denotified tribes, semi-nomadic tribes, and nomadic tribes is growing across States like Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Gujarat. As 2024 was winding down, the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment prepared a “roadmap” to address the communities’ most pressing concerns, but the anger of these communities is now being wielded by its leaders to attack the Bharatiya Janata Party’s larger narrative on tribal identity, which has been constructed by centreing the reclamation of tribal leaders as the first ones to resist “foreign invaders” like Islamic rulers and European colonisers. How can this government not sort out these basic issues like DNT certificates across States?” Uttar Pradesh is among the seven States that technically have begun issuing DNT community certificates. We don’t even have district-level complaints committees for our people.” In a meeting of top officials, chaired by Social Justice Minister Virendra Kumar last month, the government had resolved to urge States and UTs to start issuing DNT certification along with regular caste certificates, devise schemes to give land to landless DNT families, set up district-level complaints committees, and expedite scheme revisions to enable DNT families to access housing through PM Awas Yojana.