(According to report of Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment 2012-13)
Article 366(25) of the Constitution, defines Scheduled Tribes as follows:- “Scheduled Tribes means such tribes or tribal communities or parts of or groups within such tribes or tribal communities as are deemed under article 342 to be Scheduled Tribes for the purposes of this Constitution”.
The Scheduled Tribes are notified by the Presidential Order under Article 342(1) of the Constitution, which reads as follow:- “342 Scheduled Tribes (1) The President may with respect to any State or Union Territory, and where it is a State, after constitution with the Governor thereof, by public notification, specify the tribes or tribal communities or parts of or group within tribes or tribal communities which shall for the purposes of this Constitution be deemed to be Scheduled Tribes in relation to that State or Union Territory, as the case may be.
(2) Parliament may by law include in or exclude from the list of Scheduled Tribes specified in a notification issued under clauses (1) any tribe or tribal community or part of or group within any tribe or tribal community, but save as aforesaid a notification issued under the said clause shall not be varied by any subsequent notification.”
The Ministry of Tribal Affairs, in a written note to the Standing Committee, submitted that for the process of inclusion/exclusion/modification in the list of Scheduled Tribes, the criteria followed are:-
(a) Indications of primitive traits;
(b) Distinctive culture;
(c) Geographical isolation;
(d) Shyness of contact with the community at large; and
(e) Backwardness
The Ministry further submitted that these criteria are not spelt out in the Constitution but have become well established and accepted.
These criteria are not spelt out in the Constitution but have become well established and accepted. Prescribed modalities for deciding claims on inclusion in/exclusion from and modifications in the ST list:
In accordance with the aforementioned constitutional provision and the criteria evolved, the Scheduled Tribes in relation to particular States or Union Territories were duly notified first in 1950 by an Order of the President, after consultation with the State Governments/ UT Administration concerned.
As per the extant procedure, any inclusion in or exclusion from and other modifications in the list of Scheduled Tribes can be made only through an amending Act of Parliament. In order to ensure that only genuine communities are included in the list of Scheduled Tribes, the Cabinet Committee on SCs, STs, and Minorities on 15.6.1999, and further amended on 25.6.2002, had laid down the modalities for determining the claims for inclusion in, exclusion from and other modifications in Orders specifying Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes lists.
As per the modalities, only those proposals, which have been justified and recommended by the concerned State Government/ UT Administration and the Registrar General of India (RGI) as well as the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) are to be considered for amending the legislation. After the matter is approved by the Cabinet, a Bill is introduced in Parliament.
In case a proposal is not supported by the RGI, it is referred back to the State Government for reviewing or further justifying their recommendation in the light of the observations of the RGI. In such cases, where the RGI does not agree to the point of view of the State Government/UT Administration on a second reference, the Government of India may consider for rejection.
Those cases with which the State Governments and the RGI are in agreement, but which the National Commission for Scheduled Tribe (NCST) have not supported, would be rejected at the level of Minster for Tribal Affairs, Government of India.
Compilation –
Mrs. Shubha Oraon
Office Coordinator,
Addi Kurux Chaala Dhumkuriya Parha Akhra, Ranchi.
Dated 22.10.2025