Maintain ST classification without ‘political manipulation’, increase quotas, demands of left tribal body
Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Brinda Karat during the National Convention on ‘Struggle for Adivasi Rights’ organized by ‘Adivasi Adhikar Rashtriya Manch’ at Mavalankar Hall, Rafi Marg, New Delhi on September 6, 2026 | Photo credit: ANI
A resolution was passed at the national convention of the left-affiliated Adivasi Adhikar Rashtriya Manch (AARM) in New Delhi on Sunday (September 6, 2026) outlining a charter of demands for the rights of the Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities to resources, education, employment and culture. The demands ranged from increasing the percentage of reservations for homeless communities and introducing reservations in the private sector to inclusion of adivasi languages in the eighth schedule of the constitution and immune criteria for ST classification against “political manipulation”.
AARM’s demand for a review of certain criteria for ST classification came at a time when tribal units affiliated to the Sangh Parivar were also demanding a review, but with a different intent. While organizations such as the Janjati Suraksha Manch and the Akhil Bharatiya Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram have called for the introduction of a religious criterion in the ST classification, which will eventually eliminate ST communities that have converted to Islam or Christianity, the AARM has explicitly opposed both these demands, stating that only certain criteria need to be reviewed to remove outdated conditions for the classification.
CPI(M) leader and AARM vice-president Brinda Karat said some of the criteria laid down by the Lokur Committee, set up in 1965 to look into the criteria for identifying smokeless genital communities, had become outdated, such as those requiring a community to be isolated or reticent about contact to be considered ST, and needed to be reviewed.
Ms. Karat said, “I don’t want to name communities. In various states, the BJP is trying to divide Adivasis by helping non-Adivasis (and) encouraging them to claim ST certificates; and that is a very dangerous game they are playing. Ever since the BJP has come to power, or where they are in power, where there are large Adivasis to divide the Adsiva communities, what we have found is the Adsiva communities. that they can support their the majority frame of identity.’
The AARM National Convention held in New Delhi saw delegates from across the country discussing and speaking on issues related to the challenges faced by Adivasi communities in the areas of implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA), reservation and exclusion from employment, education and Adivasi identity, culture, language and beliefs. A large number of demands were made in each of these areas in the resolution adopted by the convention.
Requirements
Among the demands for the FRA, the AARM demanded a time-bound review of rejected FRA applications, strengthening of gram sabhas, abolition of state task forces working outside their legal framework and a freeze on evictions from forests. In terms of employment, the demands included the introduction of reservations in all forms of government recruitment, the publication of comprehensive employment and reservation data for all government entities, the filling of all pending vacancies and an end to the “policy of privatization”.
AARM also demanded increased budgetary allocations for education in Adivasi regions; healthy, nutritious and hot cooked lunches; the reintroduction of eggs into school meals; increasing scholarship amounts; sports facilities for Adivasi students; and a “secular and scientific” curriculum in the mother tongue across Adivasi educational institutions. They also demanded the expansion of the areas covered by the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution and the provisions of the Panchayats Act (extension to Scheduled Areas), while calling for support for reform of Adivasi customary law, especially the parts that maintain patriarchy.
Regarding reservations, AARM noted that despite the 2011 census showing that ST communities constituted 8.6% of India’s population, the percentage of reservations available to them remained at 7.5%. It said that the ST reservation percentage should be increased to match the ST population as per the ongoing 2027 census.
Published – 06 Sep 2026 23:06 IST