New panel for welfare of nomadic communities

Mains Paper 2: Governance | Mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important:

Prelims level: Idate and Renke Commission Recommendations

Mains level: Welfare measures for the stigmatized de-notified and nomadic tribes

Panel for Nomadic Tribes

A committee will be set up under NITI Aayog to complete the task of identifying de-notified, nomadic and semi-nomadic communities, especially as they move from place to place in search of a livelihood.
These communities are hard to reach, less visible, and therefore, frequently left out.
The committee will follow up on the work of the Renke Commission and the Idate Commission.
A Welfare Development Board will also be set up under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment to design and implement programmes for these hard-to-reach communities.

Why such move?

These communities once branded as criminals under the colonial Criminal Tribes Act of 1871, the communities were ‘denotified’ in 1952.
They continue to face stigma till this day.
To this end, the condition of the denotified, nomadic and semi-nomadic communities merits special attention.
The communities which have not been categorised as SC/ST/OBC do not get access to any welfare schemes.
The earlier commissions — Renke and Idate — had tried to identify and list these communities.
The major recommendations of the commissions have not been implemented till date.