Centre explains process for ST inclusion: Badaga community proposal rejected

The Union government has reiterated that inclusion or exclusion of communities in the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) lists is carried out strictly in accordance with prescribed procedures and approved modalities.

Replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Shri Durgadas Uikey said the Government of India had laid down modalities on June 15, 1999, subsequently amended in 2002 and 2022, for deciding claims related to changes in the SC and ST lists. Under the procedure, proposals must be recommended by the concerned State government or Union Territory with proper justification and a detailed ethnographic report. These proposals are then examined and require concurrence from the Registrar General of India (RGI) and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) before any legislative amendment is taken up.

The minister informed the House that the Tamil Nadu government, through a letter dated January 28, 2021, had submitted a proposal seeking inclusion of the ‘Badaga’ community in the Scheduled Tribes list of the State , along with an ethnographic report . The proposal was forwarded to the Registrar General of India for examination.

The Badaga community is primarily concentrated in the Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu and is known for its distinct cultural identity, language and traditional agricultural practices. Classified under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category in the State, the community has been seeking inclusion in the Scheduled Tribes list, citing ethnic distinctiveness and socio-economic factors. As per the prescribed process, such inclusion requires concurrence from both the RGI and the NCST, followed by a legislative amendment to the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order by Parliament.

However, the Registrar General of India, in its communication dated June 8, 2022, did not support the inclusion of the Badaga community in the ST list. The RGI’s comments were conveyed to the State government in June 2023, seeking further justification or additional information.

Meanwhile, a writ petition was filed in the Madras High Court seeking directions to the Tamil Nadu government to submit a revised proposal for inclusion of the Badaga community. The High Court, in its order dated March 11, 2025, observed that the State government had accepted the decision of the RGI and could not be compelled to forward a revised proposal, and accordingly dismissed the petition.

The Centre also noted that demands for inclusion in the Scheduled Tribes list have been raised by several communities in different parts of the country, including groups such as the Dhangar community in Maharashtra, Kurmi groups in parts of Jharkhand and Bihar, and certain tribal-claimant communities in Odisha, Assam and Rajasthan. The government clarified that all such demands are examined strictly on a case-to-case basis and processed only as per the approved constitutional and administrative modalities.

The minister emphasised that no proposal is acted upon outside the laid-down procedure.