Keep ST classification free of ‘political manipulation’, raise quota, demands Left-affiliated tribal body

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 on the rights of Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities on resources, education, employment, and culture. The demands ranged from increasing the reservation percentage for ST communities and introducing reservations in the private sector to including Adivasi languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution and making the criteria for ST classification immune to “political manipulation”.

The AARM’s demand for the review of certain criteria for ST classification came at a time when Sangh Parivar-affiliated tribal outfits have also called for a review, but with differing intent. While outfits like the Janjati Suraksha Manch and the Akhil Bharatiya Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram have called for introducing a religion criterion to ST classification that will eventually delist ST communities that have converted to Islam or Christianity, the AARM has explicitly opposed both these demands, articulating that only certain criteria needed to be reviewed to do away with outdated conditions for classification.

CPI(M) leader and AARM vice president Brinda Karat said that some criteria set by the Lokur Committee, established in 1965 to look into the criteria for identifying ST communities, had become obsolete, like the ones requiring a community to be isolated or have shyness of contact to be considered ST, and needed to be reviewed.

Ms. Karat said, “I don’t want to name the communities. In various states, the BJP is trying to divide Adivasis by helping people who are not Adivasis [and] encouraging them to demand ST certificates; and that is a very dangerous game they are playing. Ever since the BJP has come into power, or where they are in power, where there are large Adivasi communities, what we are finding is that they are using the State governments and the RSS to divide Adivasis so that they can prop up their majoritarian identity framework.”

The AARM national convention held in New Delhi saw the participation of delegates from across the country, who discussed and spoke about issues related to the challenges Adivasi communities are facing in the spheres of implementing the Forest Rights Act (FRA), reservations and exclusion from employment, education, and Adivasi identity, culture, language, and beliefs. In a resolution adopted by the convention, a slew of demands were put forth in each of these spheres.

The demands

Among the demands on the FRA, the AARM called for a time-bound review of rejected FRA claims, empowering gram sabhas, scrapping State task forces working outside their statutory ambit, and freezing forest evictions. On employment, the demands included implementing reservation in all forms of government hiring, releasing comprehensive employment and reservation data for all government entities, the filling of all backlog vacancies, and ending “policies of privatisation”.

The AARM also demanded an increase in the budgetary allocation for education in Adivasi regions; wholesome, nutritious, and hot cooked mid-day meals; the reintroduction of eggs in school menus; an increase in 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 areas covered under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution and the Provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act, while also calling for promoting reform in Adivasi customary law, particularly parts that perpetuate patriarchy.

On reservations, the AARM noted that despite the 2011 Census showing that ST communities comprised 8.6% of India’s population, the percentage of reservation available to them has remained at 7.5%. It said that the percentage of ST reservation should be increased to match the population of STs as per the ongoing 2027 Census.