Imagine waking up one day to find your entire community labeled as criminals-not because of something you did, but simply because of who you are. For millions of people belonging to India’s denotified and nomadic tribes, this isn’t a hypothetical scenario. It’s the harsh reality that has shaped their lives for over 150 years. Though the discriminatory laws have been repealed, the shadows of colonial injustice continue to haunt these communities, denying them basic rights and opportunities that most of us take for granted.
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When an entire community becomes a suspect
The story of India’s denotified tribes begins in 1871, when the British colonial government enacted the Criminal Tribes Act. This legislation did something unprecedented and deeply unjust: it labeled entire communities as born criminals based solely on their nomadic lifestyle and traditional occupations. These communities-including wandering traders, pastoralists, entertainers, and artisans-were suddenly deemed a threat to the colonial order.
The Act’s impact was devastating. By 1931, the colonial government had listed 237 criminal castes and tribes under the Act in the Madras Presidency alone. Across India, approximately 13 million people in 127 communities were subjected to this legislation by the time of independence in 1947. Members of these communities were forced to register at police stations, report their movements weekly, and live under constant surveillance. Many were confined to special settlements where they were forced to work without payment, essentially becoming bonded labor for British enterprises.
Think about what this meant for families. Children grew up knowing that society saw them as criminals before they could even understand what that word meant. Traditional livelihoods were disrupted, cultural practices were suppressed, and generations were denied opportunities for education and social mobility. The Act didn’t just criminalize people-it attempted to erase entire ways of life.
Freedom on paper, but chains remain
When India gained independence, there was hope for change. The Criminal Tribes Act was repealed in August 1949, and by 1952, all “criminal tribes” were officially denotified. August 31 is now celebrated by many as Vimukti Diwas, or Liberation Day.
However, liberation proved to be more symbolic than real. Almost immediately after the repeal, state governments introduced the Habitual Offenders Act in 1952, which retained many provisions of the original Act. The communities were simply relabeled-from “criminal tribes” to “denotified tribes”-but the stigma and surveillance continued. It was like changing someone’s prison cell while keeping them locked up.
The invisible citizens among us
Today, India has approximately 313 nomadic tribes and 198 denotified tribes, collectively comprising around 60 million people-roughly 10% of the country’s population. Yet many remain invisible in official records. One of the most pressing challenges is the lack of citizenship documents. Because of their nomadic lifestyle, many families don’t have caste certificates, residence proofs, voter IDs, ration cards, or Aadhaar cards-the very documents required to access government benefits and basic services.
The Renke Commission, which studied these communities in 2008, found that 50% of denotified and nomadic tribes lacked any kind of documents, and 98% were landless. Without these papers, they become ghosts in their own country-unable to enroll children in schools, access healthcare, open bank accounts, or claim government welfare schemes meant to help the poor.
Consider the case of nomadic fishing communities who are displaced without any resettlement provisions near their traditional areas, or pastoral communities who lose access to grazing routes and water sources. They contribute significantly to India’s economy as construction workers, sanitation workers, artisans, and entertainers, yet they’re kept away from development’s benefits.
Education remains a distant dream
Perhaps nowhere is the exclusion more evident than in education. A study revealed that only 0.8% of students from denotified communities reach higher education, while 71.7% of their children are not attending school at all. Compare this to India’s national average, and the disparity becomes stark.
Why such low enrollment? The barriers are numerous and interconnected. First, there’s the documentation problem-many children can’t even get admitted to schools without residence proof or caste certificates. In Maharashtra, nomadic tribes must provide evidence of residence before 1961 to obtain caste certificates, an impossible task for communities that migrate continuously.
When schools become spaces of discrimination
But even when children manage to enroll, they face crushing discrimination. Research has shown that 71.5% of children from the Pardhi community experience discrimination in schools, including being denied access to drinking water from the same glass as other children. Eighty-five percent are called by their community name in a derogatory manner and labeled “children of thieves.”
Imagine being a child going to school each day knowing your classmates see you as a criminal because of your last name. How long would you stay in such an environment? This constant stigmatization leads to high dropout rates, perpetuating the cycle of poverty and marginalization across generations.
Police harassment compounds the problem. In one incident in 2023, 150 individuals from the Pardhi community-including children and pregnant women-were arrested by police in Pune on mere suspicion of theft, despite no evidence. Such incidents disrupt lives and reinforce the message that these communities don’t belong in mainstream society.
Current challenges demand urgent attention
Despite various government initiatives, the implementation of welfare schemes has been patchy at best. The Scheme for Economic Empowerment of DNTs (SEED) was launched in 2022 with a budget of Rs. 200 crore, but as of late 2022, none of the applications had been approved, and allocated funds remained unutilized. Bureaucratic inefficiencies and lack of political will continue to undermine well-meaning efforts.
False categorization creates new problems
Adding to the confusion, many denotified communities don’t fit neatly into existing categories of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, or Other Backward Classes. According to the Idate Commission, 269 denotified communities are not classified under any of these categories, leaving them without access to reservation benefits in education and employment. Ironically, the same community might be recognized as a Scheduled Tribe in one state, a Scheduled Caste in another, and an Other Backward Class in a third-or not recognized at all.
The lack of land rights remains a critical issue. With 98% of these communities being landless, they have no stable base from which to build their lives. They often settle on the fringes of towns and cities, under bridges and flyovers, only to face eviction notices when that land is earmarked for development projects. The city planners don’t acknowledge their existence, and they’re left to fight for their right to simply exist.
Social stigma dies hard
Perhaps the most persistent challenge is social stigma. Despite being denotified over 70 years ago, these communities continue to face discrimination in everyday life. Police often target them during criminal investigations without solid evidence, employers refuse to hire them, and neighbors treat them with suspicion. The belief that they were “born criminals” has been so deeply internalized by society-and even by some members of the communities themselves-that erasing it will require sustained effort over generations.
Yet there are signs of hope. Civil society organizations are working to raise awareness, provide legal support, and advocate for policy changes. Some communities, particularly those that gained SC/ST status, have seen significant improvements. Access to education has created a small but growing educated middle class within these communities, empowering them to articulate their needs and advocate with authorities.
The National Human Rights Commission has recommended implementing the Idate Commission report, which calls for creating a permanent commission for these communities, repealing the Habitual Offenders Act, providing 10% reservation in education and employment, and formulating specific policies tailored to their needs. Whether these recommendations will translate into meaningful change remains to be seen.
What do you think? How can India truly decolonize its approach to nomadic and denotified communities? What steps would you prioritize to break the cycle of stigma and exclusion that has persisted for over 150 years?
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