Habitual Offenders Act to be repealed: NHRC takes up the cause of the Denotified and Nomadic Tribes

The National Human Rights Commission held a high-level meeting to discuss the specific problems of Denotified Tribes and Nomadic Tribes (DNT & NT) on 15 February 2000. Such tribes are present in varied concentration in a number of States. The meeting was attended by the Chairperson and all the Members of the Commission, Smt. Mahasveta Devi, President and Dr. G.N. Devy, Secretary of the Denotified and Nomadic Tribals Rights Action Group, Chief Secretaries of Karnataka, Rajasthan and West Bengal, Additional Chief Secretaries of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, Principal Secretaries of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Punjab, Secretary Home, Gujarat, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Secretary General, Director General (Investigation), Registrar General and Joint Secretary of NHRC.

There was a general consensus that the Habitual Offenders Act was rarely in use and there were hardly any cases being registered under the Act. It was therefore agreed that the Act can be repealed with the recommendation of the National Human Rights Commission.

Depending upon the spread of population of the DNT & NT in the State, each State shall decide on the kind of specific apparatus required for dealing with the special requirements and problems of DNTs & NTs and cases of atrocities against them and report the same to the Commission. A retired senior police officer of high reputation shall be appointed in every State by the Commission to liaise with the tribals and report about their problems and cases of atrocities against them to the Commission as well as to the State Government. The Commission’s Special Rapporteurs and the State Human Rights Commission’s will also associate themselves with this work.

The entire State machinery, specially the police officers, are to be sensitised. This will be done at the State level. The Commission will also take up the matter of appropriate training with the National Police Academy.

Proper enumeration of the DNTs & NTs throughout the country will be made other than in cases where all such tribes had been merged into SC/ST /OBC categories. While it is likely that there may be variations in the requirements of earlier Denotified and Nomadic Tribes now merged into the SC/ST/OBCs category, this matter might require separate treatment with respect to distinct territories. The Ministry of Home Affairs has been asked to provide statistics in this regard to facilitate the enumeration on basis of available records.

It was decided to provide better access to education, employment and other infrastructural facilities to DNTs & NTs. Where they have been merged into SC/ST/OBCs category, they will be entitled to such facilities as are made available to the respective category. The States have been asked to work out an Action Plan, with specific provisions in their Annual Plans, for the requirements and the special problems of these groups. The Planning Commission will also be apprised in the matter of their specific problems. It was also decided that the survey of the socio-economic conditions of such tribes would be undertaken.

The National Human Rights Commission had, in 1998, set-up an Advisory Group on Denotified and Nomadic Tribes headed by the former Commissioner of Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes, Shri B.D. Sharma. Smt. Mahasveta Devi and Dr. G.N. Devy are members of this Group. Shri Rajiv Dhawan, Senior Advocate of Supreme Court, is the Legal Advisor of the Group