Kudmis’ agitation in Bengal and Jharkhand for Scheduled Tribe status

• The Kudmi community had been protesting in the areas of West Bengal and Jharkhand.
• The community was demanding Scheduled Tribe (ST) status and the inclusion of their language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.

Who are the Kudmis?

• Kudmis are mainly a peasant community, with their population concentrated in the Jungle mahal areas or the Chota Nagpur plateau of West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha.
• During British rule, they were in the Scheduled Tribe or Aboriginal community list.
• They were regarded as a primitive tribe, like the Munda, Oraon, Bhumij, Kharia, Santhal, and others.

When were they excluded from the ST list?

• After 1950, when the Scheduled Tribe list was prepared in independent India, Kudmis did not find a place on it.
• During British rule, some affluent Kudmis wanted to elevate their social status as kshatriya in the Hindu caste hierarchy, while other members opposed this sanskritisation.
• Sanskritization refers to a process whereby people of lower castes collectively try to adopt upper caste practices and beliefs, as a preliminary step to acquire higher status.
• Based on this, the government argued that this community had become "Hinduized" and were no longer eligible for ST benefits.

Process of granting ST tag in India:

• Constitutional provision: Article 342 of the Indian Constitution -
• The President may with respect to any State/UT and where it is a State after consultation with the Governor, may notify the STs in relation to that State/UT.
• The Parliament may by law include or exclude from the list of STs specified in a notification issued.
• The process:
• It begins at the State or UT level, with the concerned government seeking the addition or exclusion of a particular community from the SC/ST list.
  • Following this, the proposal is sent to the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs, which sends it to the Registrar General of India (RGI), after examination.
  • Once approved by the RGI, the proposal is sent to the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST), following which the proposal is sent back to the Union government, which introduces it (after inter-ministerial deliberations) in the Cabinet for final approval.
• The final decision rests with the President’s office issuing a notification specifying the changes under powers vested in it from Articles 341 (for SC) and 342.
• The inclusion or exclusion of any community in the ST/SC list come into effect only after the President assents to a Bill that amends the Constitution (STs) Order, 1950, after it is passed by both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
• Criteria to begin the process: To establish whether a community is a ST, the government looks at several criteria, including its -
• Ethnological traits,
• Traditional characteristics,
• Distinctive culture,
• Geographical isolation and
• Backwardness