An umbrella organisation of tribal bodies has advised the Assam government to freeze the list of Scheduled Tribe (Plains) “for good” and satisfy six communities demanding tribal status in a way that does not infringe up the rights of the existing tribes.
The six communities are Chutia, Koch-Rajbongshi, Matak, Moran, Tai-Ahom and ‘Tea Tribes’, a vague term used to mean more than 100 communities brought from eastern and central India as plantation workers almost two centuries ago.
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“That the list of ST relating to the plains of Assam should be frozen for good and notified separately. But the government should take initiative to resolve the problem of the six communities and provide protection and privileges to all ethnic groups in any other manner without affecting the rights and interests and quotas of the plains tribal people of Assam,” All Assam Tribal Sangha secretary general Aditya Khakhlari said after a meeting with the Group of Ministers on Thursday.
Mr. Khakhlari represented the Coordination Committee of the Tribal Organisations of Assam (CCTOA) as its chief coordinator.
2 categories of STs
Assam has two categories of Scheduled Tribes (ST) – Plains and Hills. Data tabled in the Assembly in February 2019 say there are 14 ST (Plains) and 15 ST (Hills) besides 16 Scheduled Caste communities in the State.
The six communities in question are primarily dwellers of the plains. The Koch-Rajbongshi and Tai-Ahom communities had ruled much of eastern and north-eastern India in the medieval era.
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According to the CCTOA, the rights and privileges of the plains tribes of Assam were strained after the addition of five communities to the list of ST (Plains) after the 2001 census. The reservation quota for the ST (Plains) should thus be enhanced from the existing 10% to 15%, it told the government.
The other demands of the CCTOA included total protection of the identity and political rights of all the Sixth Schedule and autonomous councils for the tribes of Assam and creation of new autonomous councils for Mech, Hajong, Sarania Kachari and Madahi Kachari communities on the lines of the set-ups for four ethnic groups demanding ST status.
The CCTOA sought the creation of a Tirap tribal autonomous district council for communities in areas bordering southern Arunachal Pradesh.
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“We have further demanded tripartite talks between Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the Assam government and the CCTOA,” Mr. Khakhlari said.
On Wednesday, the Indigenous Lawyers’ Association of India said granting ST status would “destroy” the existing tribes of Assam. There were no legal provisions to “transport” some of the six communities from their existing Other Backward Castes status to that of ST, it stated.
Published - October 08, 2020 05:50 pm IST
