Why should Hatti Community be granted Scheduled Tribe(ST) Status?

• Hatti community of Himachal Pradesh share social as well as cultural similarities with the Jaunsar community of the Jaunsar-Bawar area of Uttarakhand.
• This is because the Trans-Giri area and Jaunsar Bawar area, were part of the erstwhile Sirmaur princely state.
• Incidentally, those who crossed over to the Jaunsar Bawar area which is now in Uttarakhand have enjoyed tribal status since 1967. However, the Hatti community of the Himachal weren’t accorded the ST status.
• Hence, they are demanding that they should also be granted the Scheduled Tribe(ST) status.
• There is a rigid caste system among the Hattis — the Bhat and Khash are the upper castes, while the Badhois are below them.
• Inter-caste marriages have traditionally remained a strict no-no.
• Due to topographical disadvantages, the Hattis living in the Kamrau, Sangrah, and Shilliai areas lag in education and employment.
• The Hattis are governed by a traditional council called Khumbli, which like the khaps of Haryana, decide community matters.
• The Khumbli’s power has remained unchallenged despite the establishment of the Panchayati Raj.

Since when have the Hattis been demanding tribal status?

• The community has been making the demand since 1967, when tribal status was accorded to people living in the Jaunsar Bawar area of Uttarakhand, which shares a border with Sirmaur district. Their demand for tribal status gained strength because of resolutions passed at various maha Khumblis over the years.
• They share similar culture and socio-economic conditions with the Hattis residing in Sirmaur,” Chief Minister Thakur said. “In 1967, their family members who were in Jaunsar were declared tribals but those who remained in Himachal were not given the same status or benefits.”
• The Jaunsar Bawar area has produced a sizable number of civil servants, an achievement that has not been lost on their brethren living in the trans-Giri areas.
• For the past 55 years, the Hatti community has been demanding for inclusion in the ST list.
• Granting the ST status would ensure that people come into the mainstream and ensure a special budget for the area’s overall development.
• The move will benefit a population of about 3 lakh people in 154 panchayats in the trans-Giri area in the state

Where Hatti community is located in Himachal Pradesh ?

• Hatti community is of the Trans-Giri region of Himachal Pradesh.
• They share social as well as cultural similarities with the Jaunsar community of the Jaunsar-Bawar area of Uttarakhand.

Constitutional Safeguards for STs

•  Educational & Cultural Safeguards:
• Art. 15(4): Special provisions for the advancement of other backward classes    (which includes STs);
• Art. 29: Protection of Interests of Minorities (which includes STs);
• Art. 46: The State shall promote, with special care, the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people, and in particular, of the Scheduled Castes, and the Scheduled Tribes, and shall protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation,
• Art. 350:  Right to conserve distinct Language, Script or Culture;

Social Safeguard:

• Art. 23:  Prohibition of traffic in human beings and beggars and other similar forms of forced labour
• Art. 24: Forbidding Child Labour.

Economic Safeguards:

• Art.244:  Clause(1) Provisions of Fifth Schedule shall apply to the administration & control of the Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes in any State other than the states of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura which are covered under Sixth Schedule, under Clause (2) of this Article.
• Art. 275:  Grants-in-Aid to specified States (STs &SAs) covered under Fifth and Sixth Schedules of the Constitution.

Political Safeguards:

• Art.164 (1): Provides for Tribal Affairs Ministers  in Bihar, MP and Orissa
• Art. 330: Reservation of seats for STs in Lok Sabha
• Art. 332: Reservation of seats for STs in State Legislatures
• Art. 334: 10 years period for reservation (Amended several times to extend the period
• Art. 243:  Reservation of seats in Panchayats
• Art. 371: Special provisions in respect of the NE States and Sikkim

Legislative Safeguards

• The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 and the Rules 1995 framed there under.
• Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act 1976 (in respect of Scheduled Tribes);
• The Child Labour  (Prohibition and Regulation) Act1986;
• States Acts & Regulations concerning alienation & restoration of  land belonging to STs;
• Forest Conservation Act 1980;
• Panchayati Raj (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act 1996;
• Minimum Wages Act 1948.

Initiatives

• Eklavya Model Schools
• TRIFED
• Pradhan Mantri Van Dhan Yojana
• Development of PVTGs
• Related Committees
• Xaxa Committee (2013)
• Bhuria Commission (2002-2004)
• Lokur Committee (1965)

 

Who are the Hattis?

• The Hatti community is largely concentrated in the Trans-Giri area of the Sirmaur district. Members of the community have settled in and around Shimla as well as the Solan district over time.
• The community, which has over three lakh people, is named after their age-old professional practice of selling their home grown crops at small markets called ‘Haat’ in nearby cities.
• Till date, the members of this community haven’t been mainstreamed and most are dependent on animal rearing and agriculture. They even still follow the Khumbli — the traditional council despite the establishment of the panchayat system.

• The Hattis are a close-knit community who got their name from their tradition of selling homegrown vegetables, crops, meat and wool etc. at small markets called ‘haat’ in towns.
• The Hatti community, whose men generally don a distinctive white headgear during ceremonies, is cut off from Sirmaur by two rivers called Giri and Tons. Tons divides it from the Jaunsar Bawar area of Uttarakhand. The Hattis who live in the trans-Giri area and Jaunsar Bawar in Uttarakhand were once part of the royal estate of Sirmaur until Jaunsar Bawar’s separation in 1815.
• The two clans have similar traditions, and inter-marriages are commonplace. There is a fairly rigid caste system among the Hattis — the Bhat and Khash are the upper castes, while the Badhois are below them. Inter-caste marriages have traditionally remained a strict no-no.
• Due to topographical disadvantages, the Hattis living in the Kamrau, Sangrah, and Shilliai areas lag behind in education and employment.
• The Hattis are governed by a traditional council called Khumbli, which like the khaps of Haryana, decide community matters. The Khumbli’s power has remained unchallenged despite the establishment of the panchayati raj system.

How many people are likely to benefit if the government concedes the demand?

• The Chief Minister has said that the move will benefit a population of about 3 lakh people in 154 panchayats in the trans-Giri area in the state.
• In 2016, then Congress Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh moved a file to the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs asking for tribal status to the trans-Giri region, and Dodra Kwar in Rohru on the basis of a study conducted by the Tribal Affairs Institute, Shimla.
• The Union Ministry however, said that the ethnography report about the Hatti community was inadequate, and sought a full-fledged ethnographic study.
• In March this year, the Jai Ram Thakur government sent a detailed ethnographic proposal to the Union ministry, seeking the inclusion of the Hatti community of the trans-Giri area  in the ST list of Himachal Pradesh. This week, Thakur met Home Minister Shah in New Delhi with his requests.