The Union Cabinet has adopted a draft bill to award Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to six communities of Assam.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has confirmed that the bill will be tabled in the Parliament by Tribal Affairs Ministry.
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Six communities in Assam – Chutia, Motok, Moran, Koch-Rajbongshis, Tai-Ahom and Tea tribes – have been agitating for a long time demanding ST status.
Also read: Assam: Tribal bodies against granting ST status to six communities
Meanwhile, Assam’s Minister for Finance, Health etc., Dr Himanta Bishwa Sharma in a tweet termed the decision of the Union government a historic one. “Historic decision by PM @narendramodi ji to grant tribal status to 6 communities of Assam: Motok, Moran, Chutia, Tai-Ahom, Koch-Rajbingshi and Tea Tribes,” the minister tweeted.
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3 Historic Cheers! C’ship Amndmt Bill will save 17 Asmbly const from Jinnah’s ideology. Constnal status to Clause 6 of #AssamAccord will protect us from demographic invasion. Tribal status to 6 communities will make Assam forte of indigenous people. Indebted to PM @narendramodi
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) January 8, 2019
These communities are now listed as Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in Assam.
Earlier on Monday, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) cleared the proposal from Assam government to grant ST status to these six communities.
Ministry of Tribal Affairs had forwarded the proposal from Assam Government to the NCST. Moreover, the Registrar General of India (RGI) had also supported the Assam government’s proposal to grant ST status to the six communities from Assam.