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Punjab does have tribes,
govt-funded survey claims
WSN Network
PATIALA: For
decades, the governments in Punjab denied the existence of Scheduled
Tribes in Punjab but now a survey funded by the government itself
has found that the tribes do exist. A detailed 350 page report
submitted to the government after a thorough survey of the 12
communities in
Punjab
has confirmed that eight tribes including seven ex-criminal
(de-notified) once do exist in
Punjab
which fulfill the parameters of a “tribe” laid down by the union
government and social anthropologists.
The first
comprehensive study of its kind in Punjab on these tribes has
confirmed that they were living in much dismal state as compared to
the major scheduled caste communities – Adharmis and Valmikis - as
benefits of reservation could not reach them properly.
“According to
the Annual Report (2003-04) of the Ministry of Tribal Affairs,
Government of India, there is no tribal population,” the study has
noted.
The Ethnographic
Study of the De-notified and Nomadic Tribes of
Punjab
was entrusted by the state government to Department of Sociology and
Social Anthropology of Punjabi University Patiala after the Central
government received several representations from these communities
that they be recognized as Scheduled Tribes. Interestingly some of
these communities are recognized at STs in other states while in
Punjab
they were clubbed in the SC category.
Out of the 12
communities studied by the six member group of the university,
seven – Sansi, Bauaria, Bazigar, Barad, Bangala, Gadhile and Nat –
were de-notified tribes while the last one is the Gujjar tribe, said
Dr Birinder Pal Singh, Professor of Sociology and Social
Anthropology of Punjabi University who was chief coordinator of the
project.
However, Dr
Birinderpal Singh said that while the census of India did not have a
separate count for all the communities under study, the latest count
for ex-criminal tribes in 2001 stood at 4,36,809 persons. “The
comprehensive study about their ceremonies, beliefs, eating habits,
social practices, religious beliefs, etc. reflects that they are
carrying these characteristics with exclusiveness and they perfectly
fit in the criteria of a tribe,” he said.
All India
Bazigar and Banjara Sabha President Sadhu Singh Dharamsot, who is
also an MLA from Amloh, said that they had been demanding ST status
for these communities but to no avail. “The benefits of reservation
by clubbing them with other SCs could not percolate down to them,”
he said.
Administrative
Secretary of Welfare of SCs and BCs, T.R.Sarangal, confirmed that
they had got the report. “But more work is wanted on this account as
all parameters required by the government have not been satisfied
through this report,” he said while adding that the department was
still considering the issue.
2
September 2009
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