Months after community added to ST list, Himachal asks Delhi to define Hattees

Subject: Geography

Section: Human geography

Context:

There is confusion in the Tribal Development Department (TDDD) about who the “Hattees” actually are and whether people already classified as Scheduled Castes should be included as members of this community.
TDD noted that while the Bill introduced in Parliament excluded Scheduled Castes (SC), the entry added to the ST list just says “Hattee of Trans-Giri area of Sirmour District”.

Details:

Few months ago, Hattee community of Himachal Pradesh’s Trans-Giri area (Sirmaur district) was included in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) list of the State. The only other ST in the region are the Gujjars.
According to past observations of the Office of the Registrar-General of India (RGI), people who are referred to as Hattees in the region also include those from communities such as Koli, Badhai, Lohar, Dhaki, Dom, Chamar, which are already designated as SCs.

Hatti Tribe (Himachal Pradesh):

The Hattis are a close-knit community who got their name from their tradition of selling homegrown vegetables, crops, meat and wool etc. at small markets called ‘haat’ in towns.
The Hattee community has been demanding their inclusion in the ST list since 1967 because they share ethnic ties with the people of the Jaunsar-Bawar region, who were declared as ST in Uttarakhand.
Their demand for tribal status gained strength because of resolutions passed at various maha Khumblis over the years.
Earlier in 2017, Registrar General of India (RGI) has rejected the proposal of hattees to be included in the ST list based on information that “Hattee” was a term used to refer to the inhabitants of Trans-Giri area and that this included people from “upper status social groups” like the Khash-Khanet (Rajput) and Bhat (Brahmin) castes and people from Scheduled Caste communities.

What is the Process of Inclusion in the ST List?

The process to include tribes in the ST list begins with the recommendation from the respective State governments, which are then sent to the Tribal Affairs Ministry, which reviews and sends them to the Registrar General of India for approval.
This is followed by the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes approval before the list is sent to the Cabinet for a final decision.

Benefits in the Inclusion in the ST List:

Some of the major benefits include post-matric scholarship, overseas scholarship and the national fellowship, besides education, concessional loans from the National Scheduled Tribes Finance and Development Corporation, and hostels for students.
In addition, they will also be entitled to benefits of reservation in services and admission to educational institutions as per the government policy.

Source: TH