Context: The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Third Amendment) Bill, 2022 to grant ST status to Hatti community in Himachal Pradesh was passed by the Parliament.

• While welcoming the move, several Opposition MPs  demanded that instead of a “piecemeal” approach, the Centre should bring one comprehensive law on Scheduled Tribes.

Background

• The community has been making the demand since 1967, when tribal status was accorded to people living in the Jaunsar Bawar area of Uttarakhand, which shares a border with Sirmaur district.

• Their demand for tribal status gained strength because of resolutions passed at various maha Khumblis over the years.

• The Hattis are a close-knit community who got their name from their tradition of selling homegrown vegetables, crops, meat and wool etc. at small markets called ‘haat’ in towns.

• The Hatti community, whose men generally don a distinctive white headgear during ceremonies, is cut off from Sirmaur by two rivers called Giri and Tons.

• Tons divides it from the Jaunsar Bawar area of Uttarakhand.

• The Hattis who live in the trans-Giri area and Jaunsar Bawar in Uttarakhand were once part of the royal estate of Sirmaur until Jaunsar Bawar’s separation in 1815.

• The two clans have similar traditions, and inter-marriages are commonplace.

• There is a rigid caste system among the Hattis — the Bhat and Khash are the upper castes, while the Badhois are below them.

• Inter-caste marriages have traditionally remained a strict no-no.

• Due to topographical disadvantages, the Hattis living in the Kamrau, Sangrah, and Shilliai areas lag in education and employment.

• The Hattis are governed by a traditional council called Khumbli, which like the khaps of Haryana, decide community matters.

• The Khumbli’s power has remained unchallenged despite the establishment of the Panchayati Raj System.

What is a Scheduled Tribe?

• Article 366 (25) of the Constitution refers to Scheduled Tribes as those communities, who are scheduled in accordance with Article 342 of the Constitution.

• Article 342 says that only those communities who have been declared as such by the President through an initial public notification or through a subsequent amending Act of Parliament will be Scheduled Tribes.

• The list of Scheduled Tribes is State/UT specific, and a community declared as a Scheduled Tribe in one State need not be so in another State.

• The Constitution is silent about the criteria for specification of a community as a Scheduled Tribe.

• Primitiveness, geographical isolation, shyness and social, educational & economic backwardness are the traits that distinguish Scheduled Tribe communities from other communities.

There are certain Scheduled Tribes, 75 in number known as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs), who are characterized by:

• Pre-agriculture level of technology.

• Stagnant or declining population.

• Extremely low literacy.

• Subsistence level of economy.

Government Initiatives for STs:

• The Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (FRA).

• The Provision of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996.

• Minor Forest Produce Act 2005.

• SC And ST (Prevention Of Atrocities) Act.

• Tribal Sub-Plan Strategy are focused on the socio-economic empowerment of STs.