The Centre has given its nod to a proposal to replace the generic term “any Naga tribes” with the specific names of the Naga tribes that would qualify for recognition as Scheduled Tribes (STs) in Arunachal Pradesh, according to a senior government official.
The move, coming ahead of the 2019 general elections and based on a proposal sent by the Arunachal Pradesh government, is, however, likely to have a bearing on the ongoing peace talks with the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM). The NSCN-IM and other Naga groups have been campaigning for a “Greater Nagalim” or a contiguous land for the Nagas spanning across the States of Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Myanmar.
The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday and attended by Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thawar Chand Gahlot and Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram. Arunachal Pradesh’s proposal had earlier been examined and recommended by the Tribal Affairs Ministry and the Registrar General of India (RGI).
“As far as replacing ‘any Naga Tribes’ with specific tribe names Tutsa, Wancho, Nocte and Tangsa is concerned, it has been cleared by the Tribal Affairs ministry,” said the official, who attended the meeting and spoke on condition of anonymity. “Soon we will move a Cabinet note and a Bill for notifying the changes will have to be tabled in the Parliament subsequently,” the official added.
Ahead of next year’s general elections, the Centre is expected to move a Bill to amend the Constitution to include at least 10 communities in the central list of Scheduled Castes (SCs) and STs.
The inclusion of new communities will have an impact on the overall percentage of the STs and SCs and would also reflect in changes in reservations for jobs and education.
Wednesday’s meeting also discussed the inclusion of the Kol community in the ST list of Uttar Pradesh. Kols, currently recognised as SCs in U.P., mainly inhabit the backward Bundelkhand and Baghelkhand regions that lie along the border between Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh and span the districts of Allahabad, Banda, Chitrakoot, Mirzapur, Sonbhadra, Satna and Rewa. The Kols, who have been accorded ST status in M.P., have been demanding inclusion in U.P.’s ST list too as it would enable them to exercise rights under the Forest Rights Act — rights that are applicable only to STs.
Earlier the RGI had opposed the inclusion.
The officials also discussed proposals to include Boro Kacharis in autonomous district councils of Karbi Anglong and NC Hills and Karbis in plains areas of Assam as STs, inclusion of Koshti, Halba Kosshti communities as sub-tribes of Halba, Halbi in Maharashtra, inclusion of ‘Hattee’ community in entire Trans-Giri area of Simour in the ST list of Himachal Pradesh, conferring SC status to Namoshudras (displaced castes of East Pakistan, now Bangladesh) in U.P, inclusion of Dhangars in the ST list of Goa, Chaakkamar as SC in Kerala and inclusion of Kunduvadiyan in the ST list in Kerala.
As per norms, the inclusion and exclusion of STs and SCs are done based on recommendations by the State government with the concurrence of the RGI and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST).
Centre okays replacing generic term of ‘any naga tribes’ with specific tribe names in Arunachal, could impact Naga peace deal.