Explanation - DNTs are the tribes which were notified as criminal tribes under Criminal Tribes Act, 1871, by the British colonial government. Under this Act, millions of nomadic and semi nomadic communities were declared criminals and put under continuous surveillance. After decades of facing horrors of this racial Act, they were denotified by the Government of independent India on August 31, 1952. Every year this day is celebrated as Vimukti Diwas or Liberation Day by DNTs across the country. After denotification in 1952, some of these communities were included in Scheduled Tribe (ST), Scheduled Caste (SC) and Other Backward Caste lists because they come from diverse social backgrounds. The DNTs are a heterogenous group engaged in various occupations such as transport, key-making, salt trading, entertaining — acrobats, dancers, snake charmers, jugglers — and pastoralists. The nomadic tribes maintain constant geographical mobility while semi-nomads are those who are on the move but return to fixed habitations once a year, mainly for occupational reasons. All nomadic tribes are not DNTs, but all DNTs are nomadic tribes. There are nearly 1,500 nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes and 198 denotified tribes, comprising 15 crore Indians, according to the Renke Commission (2008). These tribes remain socially and economically marginalised even now, depriving many of them of basic human rights.
Explanation - DNTs are the tribes which were notified as criminal tribes under Criminal Tribes Act, 1871, by the British colonial government. Under this Act, millions of nomadic and semi nomadic communities were declared criminals and put under continuous surveillance. After decades of facing horrors of this racial Act, they were denotified by the Government of independent India on August 31, 1952. Every year this day is celebrated as Vimukti Diwas or Liberation Day by DNTs across the country. After denotification in 1952, some of these communities were included in Scheduled Tribe (ST), Scheduled Caste (SC) and Other Backward Caste lists because they come from diverse social backgrounds. The DNTs are a heterogenous group engaged in various occupations such as transport, key-making, salt trading, entertaining — acrobats, dancers, snake charmers, jugglers — and pastoralists. The nomadic tribes maintain constant geographical mobility while semi-nomads are those who are on the move but return to fixed habitations once a year, mainly for occupational reasons. All nomadic tribes are not DNTs, but all DNTs are nomadic tribes. There are nearly 1,500 nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes and 198 denotified tribes, comprising 15 crore Indians, according to the Renke Commission (2008). These tribes remain socially and economically marginalised even now, depriving many of them of basic human rights.
