De-notified communities seek re-classification

De-notified Tribes Welfare Association, which has members from various De-notified Communities (DNCs) including Valayar and Piramalai Kallar , submitted a petition to officials at the Collector’s office here on Monday demanding re-classification as De-notified Tribes (DNTs)

M. Jebamani, president of the association, said that all the communities affected by the Criminal Tribes Act were classified as DNTs until 1979.

“Later, in one go, a majority of the communities in Tamil Nadu were classified as DNCs, because of which we lost all the benefits we were availing until then, including reservation. Our children could not get proper higher education because of this,” he said.

He added that innumerous representations subsequently made both to the State and Central governments went in vain.

“Even the DNT Commission formed by the Central government made a recommendation in 2008 that all the communities affected by the Criminal Tribes Act in the country should be uniformly classified as DNTs. However, the recommendation just remained on paper,” he said.

Mr. Jebamani said that Dr. Ambedkar Pre-Matric and Post-Matric Scholarship scheme for DNTs, introduced in 2014, was being used by students of various DNT communities across the country, except those in Tamil Nadu.

“We have suffered a great deal because of the unjust decision to group us as DNCs. It should be immediately corrected and all of us should henceforth be issued community certificates as DNTs,” he said.