Centre trying to hoodwink people with comm on ST status: Gogoi

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today said the formation of a committee by the Centre to recommend the modalities to accord Scheduled Tribes status to six OBC communities in Assam is an attempt to "hoodwink" the people of the state and cover up its failure.
He said the formation of the committee is a "tactic" of the Centre to "evade" the issue and added the modalities can be decided even after conferring the status.
The Centre had on February 29 set up a committee, to be headed by Special Secretary (Internal Security) in the Home Ministry Mahesh Kumar Singla, to recommend the modalities for granting of ST status to six OBC communities in Assam.

"It is responsibility of the Central government to confer ST status as the state government does not have any role in it and it can play the role of a facilitator only," Gogoi said is a statement here.
The Chief Minister urged the Centre to accord the ST status to the six communities - Moran, Muttock, Tai Ahom, Koch Rajbongshi, Sootea and Tea Tribes - expeditiously shunning its "dilly-dally tactic".
"Had this power been given to us, we'd have conferred the ST status upon the six communities long back," Gogoi said.

He said he has on several occasions recommended granting the ST status to the communities and will "endorse their demand" all along.

Moreover, the state government has given its no objection to the Ministry of Home Affairs opinion regarding insertion of a separate new list of ST for the six communities.
When the Hindu minorities were given refugee status without seeking opinion of the state, why the Centre has not taken the same stance in this case, Gogoi asked.