Draft Tribal Policy proposes creamy layer formula for quota to STs

New Delhi, July 16: The principle of excluding the creamy layer should be applied in giving reservation benefits to Scheduled Tribes(STs), as per the draft National Tribal policy.

The population of STs is 83.4 million as per the 2001 census and accounts for 8.2 per cent of the total population of the country.

They are scattered all over the country except in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and the Union Territories of Pondicherry and Chandigarh.

The draft policy lays down that a process of descheduling would be put in place to exclude those communities who have by and large caught up with general population.

'' As we move towards and try to ensure greater social justice, it would be necessary to give this matter more attention and work out acceptable system,'' says the draft document.

The new thinking on the issue arose after it was observed that a small section of the Scheduled Tribes haa cornered most of the government jobs.

The draft policy therefore stresses the need to look at advances made by various ST communities in the socio-economic and political arena.

''The less developed STs often complain of their exclusion by the more advanced STs. Introduction of sub-categorisation of existing STs would therefore be considered, for which a process will be put in place to determine their status.

This is a must to ensure that the benefits granted to the STs are evenly spread to all of their communities,'' says the draft policy.

The system of reservation will be continued and strengthened through requisite legislation. At the same time vigorous steps would be taken to improve the quality of education given to tribal children and youth. Affirmative actions would be explored.

The existing criteria laid down by the Lokur Committee for classification of a community as scheduled tribe are also proposed to be revamped. These are: indications of primitive traits, distinctive culture, geographical isolation, shyness of contact with other communities at large and backwardness.

But these criteria are hardly relevant today. For instance very few of the 700 scheduled tribes can today be said to possess 'primitive traits', so other more accurate criteria needs to be fixed, says the draft document. The proposals being received for inclusion of new tribes in the Scheduled category would be scrutinised to select only the deserving cases that invadvertently got left out earlier.

The draft policy also suggests that villages with a tribal majority population adjoining Scheduled Areas may also be included in such areas and specific pockets of majority ST population that have been excluded from Scheduled Areas may be scheduled.

It may be pointed out here that the list of STs is state and Union Territory specific and a community declared as ST in one state may not necessarily be scheduled in another.

The largest percentage of STs is in the state of Madhya Pradesh(14.5 per cent) whereas the largest number of STs (62) is in Orissa.

In states of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Union Territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Lakshadweep, more than 50 per cent of the population belongs to Sts.

Over the last 60 years or so, many of the STs appear to have evolved into two more or less distinct groups--those who have been able to take advantage of the protection and benefits guaranteed to them under the constitution and various Acts and schemes and have been able to decrease the gap in development between them and others and those whom such programmes and protections have failed to reach and therefore still exist at subsistence level.

UNI