Denotified and Nomadic Tribes meet

A meeting of representatives of Denotified and Nomadic tribes and activists was held in the Commission on 28 May 2004 under the chairmanship of Justice Y. Bhaskar Rao. During the meeting the participants spoke about the problems they faced on account allegedly having a history of criminal activities. They highlighted the atrocities they are subjected to today at the hands of the Police, which include picking them up and detaining them at night without a cause and not lodging FIRs. They have also asked that they be given voter ID cards and ration cards which at present are being denied to them due to their inability to provide a permanent address of residence. They also drew attention to the discrepancies of identifying certain tribes as STs in a particular state, while the same facility was not available to them in another state. They demanded repeal of the Habitual Offenders Act.
Shri Y. Bhaskar Rao, Member of the Commission stressed on the need for according a high priority to their problems and said a study needs to be carried out to identify Denotified tribes/groups in each state to help in their socio-economic development. Shri Bhaskar Rao also said that there is a need to find out if the members of such communities have a means of livelihood, and if not, to provide alternate skills.