Govt urged to shift 33 tribes of Punjab from SC to ST category

The Punjab chapter of All-India Vimukat Jatis (Denotified Tribes) Sewak Sangh (AIVJSS) has urged the government to shift 33 tribes of Punjab from the Scheduled Castes (SC) category to Scheduled Tribes (ST). They reasoned that before independence, the British had placed them under the Tribal Act.

The All-India Vimukat Jatis (Denotified Tribes) Sewak Sangh (AIVJSS) stated that there are 193 tribes in the country which includes 33 sub-castes in Punjab.

Dharmbir Singh Mahiya, former Chairman, Vimukat Jati Welfare Board, said declaration of Vimukat Jatis (DNT) into STs would be a step in the right direction as these 33 sub-castes were once classified under the Criminal Tribes Act 1871 by the British. In 2021, he wrote to then Tribal Minister Arjun Munda who forwarded their demand to the Punjab government.

Now, he said, a memorandum in this regard has been dispatched to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to do the needful on their demand. He said they have been corresponding over the matter with the government since 1995. He asserted that Punjabi University, Patiala, also conducted an ethnographic study on Vimukat Jatis findings which were sent to the government in 2010.

He said 193 tribes falling under Vimukat Jatis got freedom on August 31, 1952, exactly five years and 16 days after India gained independence. He added that due to this, they were deprived of all their socio-political, economic and constitutional rights. No solid strategic plan has been drawn up by the government to raise the standard of living of Vimukat Jatis. As a result, even today, the people of Vimukat Jatis are living below the poverty line, he said.

Citing the findings of the Ananthan Somaiya Committee (1949-50), he demanded that the Vimukat Jatis should be included in the list of STs.