Demand for Constitutional Recognition of DNT, NT, and SNT Communities

The Denotified Tribes (DNT), Nomadic Tribes (NT), and Semi-Nomadic Tribes (SNT) have long been socially, economically, and politically marginalized. Now, these communities are organizing across the country to launch a new movement to secure their identity, rights, and representation. They are demanding a separate schedule, similar to the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST), and a separate column in the 2027 census.

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¨     India is set to conduct a caste enumeration in February 2027, the first such exercise since the 1931 Census, making it a critical moment for historically excluded communities.

¨     DNTs, NTs, and SNTs view the upcoming Census as a rare opportunity to address decades of invisibility, exclusion, and misclassification in official records.

¨     The Social Justice Ministry has recommended the inclusion of DNTs in the upcoming Census. The Office of the Registrar General of India (RGI) has reportedly agreed to this inclusion.

Key Demands of Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes

¨     Separate Census Column: The primary demand is for a distinct column or code in the 2027 Census to ensure accurate counting.

¨     Constitutional Recognition: Leaders are pushing for a “separate Schedule” for Denotified Tribes, placing them on par with SCs, STs, and OBCs.

¨     Sub-classification: Communities are demanding the recognition of “graded backwardness” within the DNT umbrella to distinguish between “settled” and “nomadic” groups.

¨     Official Documentation: A demand for State and Union Territory governments to issue proper DNT community certificates so they can access existing welfare schemes.

Reasons Behind the Demand for Separate Constitutional Recognition

¨     Historical criminalisation and stigma: Denotified, nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes were labelled “criminal tribes” under the Criminal Tribes Act, 1871, and despite its repeal in 1952, enduring social stigma, exclusion and police profiling continue to marginalise these communities.

¨     Political misclassification and systemic exclusion: Most DNTs were administratively absorbed into SC, ST or OBC lists while around 260–270 communities remain unclassified, and even those included are crowded out by larger groups, limiting their access to reservations, welfare benefits and representation.

¨     Census invisibility and administrative failure: The absence of a separate census column or code has rendered DNTs statistically invisible, which is reflected in poor welfare delivery, such as only ₹69.3 crore being spent out of the ₹200 crore allocation under the SEED scheme due to a lack of proper community certification.

¨     Extreme and graded backwardness: Nomadic and semi-nomadic DNTs suffer deeper educational, economic, and social deprivation than many settled groups within existing categories, reflecting graded backwardness that current classifications cannot adequately address.

¨     Emerging constitutional support: Community leaders cite the Supreme Court’s August 2024 ruling allowing sub-classification within SC and ST categories to argue that a separate Schedule with internal differentiation is constitutionally justified to ensure meaningful safeguards, dedicated quotas and effective welfare delivery for DNTs.

Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes

¨     DNTs, SNTs and NTs represent some of the most remote, marginalised, and historically oppressed communities in India.

¨     There is no official data on their population, but the Renke Commission (2008) put their population at 10.74 crores based on census 2001.

¨     The Idate Commission (2017) identified over 1,200 DNT/NT/SNT communities, but flagged 267 communities that had never been classified.

De-notified Tribes (DNTs)

¨     DNTs were once ‘notified’ as ‘born criminals’ by the British under a series of laws beginning with the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871.

¨     These discriminatory Acts, which criminalised entire communities based on hereditary occupation, were repealed by the Indian Government in 1952 after Independence.

¨     Consequently, such communities were “De-notified”, meaning they were no longer classified as criminal by law.

¨     Some of these de-notified communities were also nomadic in nature.

Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Communities

¨     These are communities that move from one place to another, instead of residing in one permanent location.

¨     Semi-nomadic groups may stay in one area for longer periods, but still do not have a fixed home.

Historically, Nomadic and De-notified Tribes lacked access to:

¨     Private land

¨     Home ownership

¨     Formal welfare services.

AnSI–TRI Survey on Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes

¨     The survey was carried out by the Anthropological Survey of India (AnSI) in collaboration with State-level Tribal Research Institutes (TRIs).

¨     Time Period: February 2020 to August 2023 (three years).

¨     Mandate: To identify and classify denotified, nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes that had never been formally included under the Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) or Other Backward Classes (OBC) categories.

¨     A total of 268 communities were identified as denotified, nomadic, and semi-nomadic tribes that were previously unclassified.

¨     63 communities were found to be “not traceable,” likely due to assimilation into larger communities, change of community names, or migration to other States.

Classification Recommendations

¨     179 communities were recommended for inclusion under SC, ST and OBC lists.

¨     85 communities were recommended for classification for the first time ever.

¨     This exercise represents the most comprehensive and finalised identification effort on denotified, nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes undertaken in India so far.