Centre Declines Reclassification of Denotified and Nomadic Communities | 05 Dec 2025

Source: TH 

The Centre has decided not to reclassify the 268 denotified, nomadic, and semi-nomadic communities into SC/ST/OBC categories, despite an extensive Anthropological Survey of India study recommending it. This has caused concern as lack of proper classification blocks these communities from accessing benefits, including schemes like SEED. 

• About Denotified, Nomadic, and Semi-nomadic Communities 
  • Denotified Tribes: Denotified Tribes (DNTs) are communities in India unfairly branded as "born criminals" by the British colonial government under the 1871 Criminal Tribes Act, but were "denotified" (decriminalized) by independent India in 1952. 
  • Nomadic Tribes: Communities that do not have a fixed home and move from place to place constantly for their livelihood. They traditionally carried out occupations like salt trading, fortune-telling, performing arts, or pastoralism. 
  • Semi-Nomadic Tribes: These communities are partially nomadic. They may have a fixed home or base where they stay for part of the year (usually during the rainy season) but migrate for the rest of the year for work. 
    • In 2019, the Union Government set up the Development Welfare Board for Denotified, Nomadic, and Semi-Nomadic Communities (DWBDNC) following the Idate Commission (2017) report. 
• SEED Scheme (Scheme for Economic Empowerment and Development): Administered by DWBDNC to provide financial, educational, and skill development support. 
  • Supports self-employment, entrepreneurship, education, and health initiatives. 
  • Aims to uplift socio-economic conditions of denotified and nomadic communities. 
  • Uptake is slow due to unclear classification and lack of community certificates.