Who are the Paharis and Paddaris, proposed for ST status in J&K?

Subject : Geography

Section: Human geography

Context:

The government has brought a bill to include four communities in the list of Scheduled Tribes (STs) in J&K, ‘Gadda Brahman’, ‘koli’, ‘Paddari Tribe’, and ‘Pahari Ethnic Group’.

Details:

The Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheduled Tribes Order (Amendment) Bill, 2023 is one of the four Bills relating to the Union Territory that were introduced in Lok Sabha.
Gujjar- Bakarwals are protesting against the order as they are saying that Gadda Brahmins are a branch of the Gaddis and Kolis are a sub-caste of Sippis– both these communities are already in the ST list.

ST communities now:

The dominant communities in J&K are the Gujjars and Bakerwals, who mainly live in the districts of Rajouri, Poonch, Raesi, Kishtwar, Anantnag, Bandipora, Ganderbal, and Kupwara.
Most of them specially the Bakerwals are nomadic– they migrate with their livestock to the higher reaches in the summer, and return before the onset of winter.
Gujjar- Bakarwals are the third largest group in J&K after the Kashmiris and Dogras.
They were given ST status in 1991, along with the two smaller groups of Gaddis and Sippis.
In 2019, they were given the reservation of 10% in Lok Sabha and Assembly seats of J&K.

Pahari ethnic group:

The Paharis are Hindus (some upper caste), Muslims (some are from Pakistan occupied Kashmir), and Sikhs, and include people of Kashmiri Origin who settled in the districts of Rajouri and Poonch over a period of time.
In 2012-13 J&K government commissioned a study by Prof Amin Peerzada of Kashmir University, which supported the ST status of Paharis. Though the centre rejected the demand at that time.
The Paharis finally got 4% reservation in jobs and educational institutions in 2019.
Also in 2019, Justice (retd) G.D. Sharma commission was appointed to identify groups that were socially, educationally and economically backward.
The commission in its report recommended the ST status for Gadda brahmins, kolis, Paddari Tribe and Pahari ethnic Group.

Paddari Tribe:

They live in the remote Paddar area of the hilly Kishtwar district.
The Paddari homeland borders Zanskar (Ladakh) in the north and the east, Pangi in Himachal Pradesh in the south, and the rest of J&K in the west.
As per 2011 census, Paddari population was 21548, comprising 83.6% hindus, 9.5% buddhists, and 6.8% muslims.
The people of that area speak Paddari language.

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.