TRIBAL STATUS FOR TRANS-GIRI

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• 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.

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-demand-tribal-status-himachal-trans-giri-hatti-community-8039762/

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