Tribal Status for Trans-Giri: The Union Government is reported to be considering granting “tribal” status to the Trans-Giri region of Himachal Pradesh’s Sirmaur district.

Key Facts:

• 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 Hattis have been demanding ST status since 1967, when tribal status was accorded to people living in Jaunsar Bawar in Uttarakhand, which shares a border with Sirmaur district.
• Over the years, various ‘maha khumblis’ passed resolutions pressing the demand.

About the Hatti community:

• The Hattis are a close-knit community.
• They 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 don a distinctive white headgear on ceremonial occasions.
• 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.

Note: The Tons River marks the border between the two states.

• The Hattis people are governed by a traditional council called ‘khumbli’ which is similar to the ‘khaps’ of Haryana, they decide community matters.
• The Hattis living in the Trans-Giri area in today’s Himachal Pradesh and Jaunsar Bawar in Uttarakhand were once part of the royal estate of Sirmaur.

• Jaunsar Bawar was conquered by the British in 1814.

• The two Hatti clans, in Trans-Giri and Jaunsar Bawar, have similar traditions, and inter-marriages are common.

Caste System:

• The Hattis have a fairly rigid caste system operates in the community.
• The Bhat and Khash are upper castes, while the Badhois are below them.
• Inter-caste marriages have traditionally been discouraged.

Demand for tribal status:

• Hattis of Jaunsar Bawar share similar culture and socio-economic conditions with the Hattis residing in Sirmaur,”
• Chief Minister Thakur said. “In 1967, their family members who were in Jaunsar were declared tribals but those who remained in Himachal were not given the same status or benefits.”
• Since getting the benefit of reservations, the Jaunsar Bawar area has produced a sizable number of civil servants.
• Due to topographical disadvantages, however, the Hattis living in the Kamrau, Sangrah, and Shilliai areas of Himachal Pradesh have lagged behind in both education and employment.

Tribal Area in India:

The Constitution of India states two types of areas:

1. Scheduled Areas in terms of the 5th Schedule of the Constitution.
2. Tribal Areas in terms of 6th Schedule.

“The “Tribal Areas” are also mentioned under Article 244(2) of the Constitution.

What are the criteria for the declaration of Scheduled Areas?

• 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.

The lists of Major STs in Himachal Pradesh are

• Gaddis
• Gujjars
• Kinnaras (Kinnauras)
• Lahaulas
• Pangwalas,

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.