TRIBAL STATUS FOR TRANS-GIRI

Copyright infringement not intended

In News

The Union Government is considering the proposal for granting “tribal” status to the Trans-Giri region of Himachal Pradesh’s Sirmaur district.
The demand to declare the Trans-Giri region as a tribal area is old, and the demand is linked with another demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status for the Hatti community which lives in the Trans-Giri region.
The list of Major STs in Himachal Pradesh includes;
- Gaddis
- Gujjars
- Kinnaras (Kinnauras)
- Lahaulas
- Pangwalas, and some other smaller tribes.
The bulk of the tribal population lives in remote, high-altitude areas in the districts of Lahaul, Spiti, Kinnaur, and Chamba.
The tribal population of the state was 3.92 lakh (about 6% of the total) in 2011.

Hatti community

The Hattis are a close-knit community.
Harris people take their name from their traditional occupation of selling home-grown crops, vegetables, meat, and wool at small-town markets known as ‘haats’.
Hatti men traditionally dress in distinctive white headgear on ceremonial occasions.
In Himachal Pradesh, Hattis people live in 154 panchayat areas, and according to the 2011 census; members of the community are around 2.5 lakh.
- The present-day population of the Hattis is around 3 lakh.
They live near the Himachal-Uttarakhand border area in the basin of the Giri and Tons rivers, both these rivers are tributaries of the Yamuna.
The Tons River marks the border between the two states.
- Hattis live in the Trans-Giri area in Himachal Pradesh and Jaunsar Bawar in Uttarakhand.
- Both have a similar tradition, and inter-marriages are common among them.
A rigid caste system operates in the community;
- The Bhat and Khash are so-called upper castes people.
- The Badhois are so-called lower caste people.
- Inter-caste marriages between these 2 castes are discouraged.
The Hattis people are governed by a traditional council called ‘khumbli’ which is similar to the ‘khaps’ of Haryana, they decide community matters.

Tribal Area

The Indian Constitution states two types of areas:
- Scheduled Areas in terms of the 5th Schedule of the Constitution.
- Tribal Areas in terms of 6th Schedule.
“The “Tribal Areas” are also mentioned under Article 244(2) of the Constitution.
For declaration of Scheduled Areas, the criteria followed are:
- The predominance of the tribal population.
- Closeness and reasonable size of the area.
- Presence of a viable administrative unit such as a district, block or taluk.
- Economic backwardness of the area as compared to neighboring areas.