Lok Sabha nod to amend ST list in U.P.

Opposition members want comprehensive national law for inclusion in list

The Lok Sabha on Friday passed the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2022, to amend the list of Scheduled Tribes in Uttar Pradesh.

Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda, replying to the debate, said the Narendra Modi government is committed to welfare of tribals and has increased budgetary allocation of tribal welfare schemes over the years.

In response to a demand from some members including Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and RSP’s N.K. Premachandran that the government bring in a comprehensive bill on tribal reservation instead of piece-meal legislations, the Minister said different States have different lists of tribes, prompting the government to bring different bills.

The bill for U.P. seeks to include Gond, Dhuria, Nayak, Ojha, Pathari and Rajgond communities living in the four newly created districts of the State — Sant Kabir Nagar, Kushinagar, Chandauli and Sant Ravidas Nagar —cin the list of Scheduled Tribes. It also seeks to exclude the Gond community living in these four districts from the list of Scheduled Castes.

Participating in the debate, several members sought better and a more effective implementation of the reservation policies for such categories.

BJP MP from Madhya Pradesh, Guman Singh Damor said poor and uneducated tribal communities are being converted by offering inducements and the government should exclude them fro the list of Scheduled Tribes.