Tribal Migration in Indian Censuses: A Neglected and Litigated Area

Abstract

Tribe and caste migration in Indian Censuses did not get proper attention during the colonial as well as post-independence periods. Censuses in the post-independence period have followed a conservative approach to enumerating tribes, castes and religions. The migration data on Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Scheduled Castes (SCs) have been presented since the 2001 Census, but its scope is limited. The enumeration of inter-state migration of STs is entangled in legislative jargon. When tribes in India have dipped into severe poverty and unemployment, forcefully alienated from forests and hills, confronted development-induced displacement, and migrated by distress driven to the urban centres in distant places in search of jobs. When the demand for independent territory or statehood, such as Nagalim, Zale’n-gam and many others, consolidating the tribal inhabited areas bifurcated into three to four neighbouring states leads to insurgency and mass cross-border movement of ethnic groups. The presumption of ST migration within the jurisdiction of the State/UT of enumeration in the Censuses during the post-independence period is delusive and very irrational. The study provides insight into such limitations of Census data on tribal migration, legislative jargon and politics involved with it. It also discusses the nature of provided data on tribal migration.