Adivasis, Muslims more averse to sharing biometric data with police due to 'distrust': Study

Adivasis and Muslims are more averse than others when it comes to allowing police to collect biometric details of convicts, under-trials and arrested people due to their “distrust” for administration, a new study has said.

The rate of incarceration of certain communities disproportionate to their population is adding to the suspicion, according to the 'Status of Policing in India Report 2023: Surveillance and the Question of Privacy' by Common Cause and Lokniti - Centre for the Study Developing Societies (CSDS).

Among the states, it said, Tamil Nadu (56 per cent) and Karnataka (54 per cent) topped the list of respondents who were against police getting such powers.

The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act 2022 allows the collection of biometrics of convicts, under-trials and arrested persons though it faced criticism from activists.

According to the study, adivasis (44 per cent) were “significantly more likely to oppose” giving the power to police to collect biometric data in comparison to the general category (28 per cent), Dalits (34 per cent) and OBCs 31 per cent.

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However, those who support the law are higher in proportion on General category (50 per cent), OBC (50 per cent) and Dalit (42 per cent) communities but it is lower among adivasis (39 per cent).

If one takes religious groups, Muslims were the “least supportive” – 39 per cent of the Muslim respondents supported the law compared to Hindus (50 per cent), Christians (44 per cent) and Sikhs 43 per cent.

Looking for reasons for the trend, the study noted that tribals faced trouble when they protested against the State encroaching upon their land in the name of development.

"With the help of existing laws, the State builds dams and displaces communities leaving those inhabiting these localities vulnerable and thus their livelihoods and lives get affected. If, however, they protest against the government, it is found that at times they get imprisoned or blacklisted for ‘fabricated’ charges," the report said.

Under such conditions, it claimed, their biometric data allows the government to “keep a constant vigil on them” and this “may be a probable cause for their reservation" against the collection of biometric details by the police. Referring to their 2018 study, it said 28 per cent of tribals were of the opinion that adivasis were falsely implicated under Maoism-related charges.

"Distrust of the police’s intention may be a major factor for the adivasis being critical" of these provisions, it said.

The report also indicated that the rate of imprisonment of people from specific communities could be the reason behind their reluctance to share biometric details. Citing the official 'Prison in India' statistics, the report said the rate of incarceration of SCs, STs, OBCs and Muslims across states is "is disproportionately higher than their overall population.