Govt clears proposal to grant ST status to several communities in 5 states

Basically due to spelling errors and similar sounding names of several communities, these could not be brought under ST category for a very long time, Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda said

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday cleared the proposal to notify several tribal communities under the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category in Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh.

Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda told media persons after the Cabinet meeting that these proposals were lying pending for several years.

Basically due to spelling errors and similar sounding names of several communities, these could not be brought under the ST category for a very long time, he added.

The Cabinet approved the ministry's proposal for the inclusion of Narikoravan, along with the Kurivikkaran, community of Tamil Nadu under ST category through the introduction of a Bill in Parliament to amend the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950.

Similarly,it granted ST status to the Betta-Kuruba community as a synonym of Kadu Kuruba of Karnataka. This also would be done through the introduction of a Bill in Parliament to amend the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950.

Further, Gonds, along with its five sub-castes, in Bhadohi district of Uttar Pradesh were included in the ST list of Uttar Pradesh.

The Union Cabinet also granted tribal status to the Trans-Giri region of Himachal Pradesh's Sirmaur district. The decision marks the inclusion of the Hattee community in four blocks of the area.

--IANS

ans/vd