The demand for ‘tribal’ status for Himachal’s Trans-Giri and its Hatti community

The demand for ‘tribal’ status for Himachal’s Trans-Giri and its Hatti community

Subject: Polity

Section: Constitution

Context:

• Political promises have been made over the years; however, the government has cited technical hurdles in its fulfilment. With Assembly elections approaching, the issue is back on top of discussions

Who are Hatti Community?

• The Hattis are a close-knit community who take their name from their traditional occupation of selling home-grown crops, vegetables, meat, and wool at small-town markets known as ‘haats’.
• Hatti men traditionally don a distinctive white headgear on ceremonial occasions.
• For declaration of Scheduled Areas the criteria followed are :
  • preponderance of tribal population,
  • compactness and reasonable size of the area,
  • a viable administrative entity such as a district, block or taluk, and
  • economic backwardness of the area as compared to neighbouring areas.
• These criteria are not spelt out in the Constitution of India but have become well established.
• The list of STs in Himachal Pradesh includes Gaddis, Gujjars, Kinnaras (Kinnauras), Lahaulas, Pangwalas, and some other smaller tribes.

Constitutional provision related to Schedule areas

• It said that the Constitution provides for two types of areas: “Scheduled Areas” in terms of the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution, and “Tribal Areas” in terms of Sixth Schedule.
• Article 244
  • (1) The provisions of the Fifth Schedule shall apply to the administration and control of the Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes in any State other than the States of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.
  • (2) The provisions of the Sixth Schedule shall apply to the administration of the tribal areas in the States of Assam Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.
• The various features of administration contained in the Fifth Schedule are as follows

1. Declaration of Scheduled Areas: The president is empowered to declare an area to be a scheduled area. He can also increase or decrease its area, alter its boundary lines, rescind such designation or make fresh orders for such redesignation on an area in consultation with the governor of the state concerned.
2. Executive Power of State and Centre: The executive power of a state extends to the scheduled areas therein. But the governor has a special responsibility regarding such areas. He has to submit a report to the president regarding the administration of such areas, annually or whenever so required by the president. The executive power of the Centre extends to giving directions to the states regarding the administration of such areas.
3. Tribes Advisory Council: Each state having scheduled areas has to establish a tribes advisory council to advise on welfare and advancement of the scheduled tribes. It is to consist of 20 members, three-fourths of whom are to be the representatives of the scheduled tribes in the state legislative assembly. A similar council can also be established in a state having scheduled tribes but not scheduled areas therein, if the president so directs.
4. Law applicable to Scheduled Areas: The governor is empowered to direct that any particular act of Parliament or the state legislature does not apply to a scheduled area or apply with specified modifications and exceptions. He can also make regulations for the peace and good government of a scheduled area after consulting the tribes advisory council. Such regulations may prohibit or restrict the transfer of land by or among members of the scheduled tribes, regulate the allotment of land to members of the scheduled tribes and regulate the business of money-lending in relation to the scheduled tribes.

States having Fifth Schedule Areas

• At present, 10 States namely Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan and Telangana have Fifth Schedule Areas.
• The Fifth Schedule of the Constitution deals with the administration and control of Scheduled Areas as well as of Scheduled Tribes residing in any State other than the States of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.
• Tribal habitations in the states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir have not been brought under the Fifth or Sixth Schedule.