Implementation of Idate Commission Report

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has recently emphasized the urgent need to adopt and implement the recommendations of the Idate Commission report.

Key Highlights from NHRC’s Recent Focus:

• NHRC calls for setting up a permanent commission for Nomadic, Semi-Nomadic, and De-Notified Tribes (NTs, SNTs, and DNTs), as recommended by the Idate Commission.
• The NHRC recognizes the challenges faced by these people due to historical stigma, primarily from the Criminal Tribes Act, 1872, and Habitual Offenders Act, 1952.
• Habitual Offenders Act, 1952: The act can either be repealed or a representative from the De-notified Tribe community shall be included with the nodal officers.
• The Habitual Offenders Act defines a habitual offender as someone who has been convicted and sentenced to imprisonment more than twice in five years.
• There is a necessity to change the colonial mindset that labels De-Notified Tribes as having “criminal tendencies.”
• The documentation process for these communities must be boosted to ensure they receive welfare scheme benefits.
• Issues like the lack of citizenship documents among De-Notified communities must be discussed.
• NHRC suggests measures to overcome the difficulties faced by these communities, including ensuring their representation in parliament, government institutions, and higher education.
• Special attention to the women and children of these tribes, must be highlighted citing their unique challenges and needs.

About Idate Commission Report:

• The commission was established in 2015 to promote the planned development of NTs, SNTs, and DNTs, with Bhiku Ramji Idate as the chairperson.
• It recognized these communities as the ‘poorest among the poor’ and unanimously stressed on specific programs for their development.
• It is outlined in the interim report for education, housing, infrastructure, health facilities, microfinance, and skill development.

Key Recommendations:

• Establishment of a Permanent Commission: This would include community leaders, IAS officers, and subject experts to address ongoing issues and provide consistent support.
• Separate Department/Directorate: For each state to ensure effective administration and coordination for the development of these people.
• Census and Proactive Data Collection: It emphasized conducting a detailed census for accurate data on their population for policy formulation.
• Strong safeguards: It asked for constitutional protections like extension of the Protection of Atrocities Act to these communities.
• Representation: It proposed that due representation in Political Bodies would ensure partnership in the decision-making process.
• Sub-Quota: A sub-quota or a separate category within existing quotas could address the non-representation issues in education, employment, and other spheres.
• Removal of Anomalies: In order to address categorization anomalies and rationalize classifications based on ethnographic studies and due procedures.

About De-notified Tribes in India:

• The term ‘De-notified Tribes’ stands for all those communities that were once notified under the Criminal Tribes Acts, enforced by the British Raj between 1871-1947.
• These Acts were repealed in 1952, and these communities were “De-Notified”.
• The terms- nomads and semi-nomads are applied to ‘social groups who undertook frequent, or seasonal physical movement as part of their livelihood strategy in the recent past.
• The term semi-nomad is mostly used to describe those sections of nomads whose duration, distance, and frequency of movement are comparatively less than others.

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