As denotified, nomadic, and semi-nomadic tribes (DNTs) across the country come together to demand a “separate column” for themselves in the 2027 Census forms, linguist and cultural scholar professor G.N. Devy has warned that India risks further alienating these communities—classified as “criminal” under the colonial-era 1871 Criminal Tribes Act and left uncounted since the formation of the Republic—if they are not explicitly counted.
Linguistic, cultural markers could hold the key to caste enumeration method: Professor G.N. Devy
In an exclusive interview with The Hindu, professor Devy—who headed the Ministry of Social Justice’s Technical Advisory Group on DNTs in 2006, and co-founded the DNT-Rights Action Group (DNT-RAG) with author Mahasweta Devi—said that inclusion of the DNTs must begin with a declaration by the Census Commissioner that these communities will be counted explicitly. He added that the problem of alienating over 10 crore people could become much bigger than that of counting them.
Edited Excerpts:
What opportunity does the upcoming Census present for the welfare of DNTs, given that caste will be enumerated in 2027?
