- Introduction
Like the Jataka tale of an elephant and seven blind men the issue of tribal identification,
especially of the Scheduled Tribes, swing from one far end to another. Much interest, in this issue,
has been shown by different people for one or the other reasons The Christians are interested in their
conversion. And the Hindu organizations are interested in effacing their identity by absorbing them
in their religion. But currently the issue came in arena when many communities, like the Jats in
Rajasthan and the Dhangars in Maharashtra, want themselves to be included in the list of Scheduled
Tribes (The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950) (hereinafter referred to as ST’s) with the
sole purpose of reservation benefits.
The term ‘tribe’ has nowhere been defined in the Constitution of India. It has been defined
by many social scientists, but none of them gave a complete picture of the tribe. In the scheme of
reservation policy, various terms are used such as, Schedule Tribe, Nomadic Tribe, etc. But when we
speak about Schedule Tribe the common perception is that the people included in the list are Adivasis.
Therefore, it is evident that the communities who claim that they should be included in the list of
Scheduled Tribes must fulfill the criterions of being Adivasi.
ADIVASI OR SCHEDULED TRIBE : DETERMINATION OF THE IDENTITY
RELATED ARTICLES
