Gurjars fail on ST criterion of shyness

Being a Scheduled Tribe (ST) is suddenly coveted status. But even as Gurjars and Meenas slug it out in the streets, experts say being "" or becoming "" an ST isn't as easy as people believe.

Not for the Gurjars, the Meenas, nor indeed for the 900-odd applicant communities that have queued up for the status before the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

The qualifying characteristics for communities to be termed ST are: primitive traits, geographical isolation, distinct culture, economic backwardness and "" lastly "" shyness and a reluctance to have contact with the community at large, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs website says.

However, these are norms that become subservient to the political pressure that a community can exercise to get into the privileged bracket, says Pradeep Prabhu, a member of the S R Sankaran committee that recently finalised rules for the Recognition of Forest Rights Act.

Says Prabhu, "Gurjars are nomadic pastoralists and all nomadic groups are not tribals. However, they claim kinship with pastoralists in Himachal Pradesh, who are ST, to claim similar privileges."

He says the Gurjar struggle in Rajasthan merely mirrors a nationwide trend of dominant communities seeking to grab ST status. Every state has skeletons in its cupboard. He cites the case of Lambadas who grabbed ST status in Andhra Pradesh though they were nomadic tradesmen and count themselves among Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in Maharashtra.

In Maharashtra, the tribal population has doubled between 1980 and 1990 as several communities applied for and got ST status.

In Karnataka, Naiks, once petty rulers, managed to grab the status though they have no tribal credentials. "Sociologists are consulted but who listens to them?" asks Prabhu.

Again, while it is possible to notify a new group as ST, it is difficult to denotify it "" for the cut-off income limit for the creamy layer (or second generation seekers of ST benefits who are disqualified from availing of them) is a whopping Rs 4 lakh a year.

Most ordinary citizens start paying tax once they begin earning about Rs 1 lakh a year, says Prabhu. So to stay ST, all you need is judicious income management.