 bill no 214 of 2018 the declaring of habitual offenders laws as void bill, 2018 by shri a p jithender reddy, mpshort title and commencement5abillto render certain enactments tagging nomadic, semi-nomadic and migrating tribes as habitual offenders or criminals by birth as inoperativebe it enacted by parliament in the sixty-ninth year of the republic of  india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the declaring of habitual offenders laws as void act,2018(2) it shall come into force on such date as the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, appoint102 with effect from such date as the central government may, by notification in the official gazette specify, all laws in force in the territory of india or a part thereof tagging, naming, identifying or declaring, explicitly or implicitly, any nomadic, semi-nomadic or migrating tribe as habitual offenders or criminals by birth shall be void and shall always be deemed to have been voidlaws tagging naming or identifying nomadic, semi-nomadic or migrating tribe to be void statement  of  objects  and  reasonsthe british colonialists, based on their past experiences of dealing with nomadic tribes in europe, considered all wandering communities to be nuisance for public law and order combined with their misjudged understanding of the caste-system in india, they assumed that criminals beget criminals and thus, enacted the criminal tribe act (cta) in 1871, notifying certain tribes to be hereditary criminals excluding them from societal and economic reforms and subjecting them to  severe state-sanctioned repressionwhile the cta was repealed post-independence, several states introduced habitual offenders' act circa 1959 (hoa) through state legislature, which essentially carried forward this vestige of the colonial era and further strengthens the stigma associated with the nomadic and semi-nomadic communities this act is currently enforced in ten indian states—in himachal pradesh through the himachal pradesh habitual offenders act (1969), in karnataka through the karnataka habitual offenders act, (1961), in andhra pradesh and telangana through the andhra pradesh habitual offenders act (1962), in gujarat through the habitual offenders act (1959), in maharashtra through the bombay habitual offenders act (1959), in kerala through the kerala habitual offenders act (1960), in punjab through the restriction of habitual offenders act (1918), and the punjab habitual offenders (control and reform) act (1952), in rajasthan through the habitual offenders act (1953) and in tamil nadu through the restriction of habitual offenders act, (1948)although the 'criminal tribes' were later re-classified as 'de-notified tribes' (dnt)little was done to bring about substantial changes in their lives the erstwhile governments sought to alleviate their problems by haphazardly and inconsistently distributing them among the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward classes categories crowded out by other dominant sections in their respective categories, the de-notified tribes sunk to the very bottom of the societal pyramid, as a result of which developmental policies and positive affirmation initiatives could not reach themthe present bill is of high importance since it fulfils the dual purpose and finally draws curtain on centuries of state-sanctioned repression of the nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes in india and function as a confidence-building measure in the government machineryhowever, the need is to be necessarily accompanied with re-invigorated state-led reforms in addressing the outstanding developmental needs of the dnts their very mode of  life presents an inherent hurdle in them benefitting from welfare schemes—the lack of permanent residency is the biggest deterrent in bringing these communities in the mainstream society considering their precarious situation, it is urged to recognise them as separate entities in positive affirmation policies of the government, while protecting their rights under, or in similar scope and spirit to, the provisions in the scheduled caste and scheduled tribe (prevention of atrocities) act therefore, the repeal of the abovementioned  acts needs to be immediately followed by a new act of the parliament to address the reforms needed to empower the de-notified nomadic and semi-nomadic tribesnew delhi;a p jithender reddynovember  26, 2018 lok  sabha———— a billto render certain enactments tagging nomadic, semi-nomadic and migrating tribes as habitual offenders or criminals by birth as inoperative————(shri a p jithender reddy, mp)mgipmrnd—2227ls(s3)—18122018