GUWAHATI: Tension is brewing in Assam over the proposed inclusion of six communities in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) list.
A Group of Ministers (GoM) tabled an interim report in the Assembly on Saturday, recommending a three-tier classification of STs – ST (Plains), ST (Hills) and ST (Valley).
While the ST (Plains) and the ST (Hills) continue to cover the existing tribal communities residing in the plains and the hills, the ST (Valley) will cover the six communities – Ahom, Chutia, Moran, Matak, Koch-Rajbongshi and Tea Tribes (Adivasis).
The government move pleased these six communities but upset the existing tribals.
The existing tribals believed that the decision would undermine their rights and weaken their political, educational and economic safeguards.
Hundreds of protestors, mostly students, stormed the autonomous Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) secretariat in Kokrajhar and vandalised properties on Saturday.
They demanded that the BTC administration revoke the ‘no-objection certificate' (NOC) given to the government.
Recently, BTC chief executive member Hagrama Mohilary stated that the NOC was given on the condition that ST status to the six communities must not hurt the interests of existing ST communities.
Leaders of tribal organisations burnt copies of the GoM report in Guwahati on Sunday. They would repeat this act in other parts of the state on Monday.
All Bodo Students’ Union president Dipen Boro said Assam’s existing 45 lakh tribals would be lost if two crore “advanced” people were "imposed on us."
“We reject the GoM report,” he said. Tribal leader Aditya Khaklari echoed a similar sentiment. “You cannot differentiate the tribals. The government decision will affect the existing tribals,” he said.
The GoM report said the three-fold structure would allow reservations in Parliament, legislative Assembly, and local bodies, to be reorganised without reducing the current entitlements of ST (Plains) and ST (Hills) communities.
“However, to achieve this, Parliament must enact special legislation to give the three-fold reservation statutory endorsement. The Government of Assam will request the Government of India to provide statutory recognition of the three-tier classification of the Scheduled Tribes of Assam,” the report said.
This arrangement, the report added, will be in tune with the resolution of the Assam Assembly that the six communities be recognised as STs without affecting the rights and privileges of the present tribal communities.
“ST (Valley) will be the Scheduled Tribe for all purposes except that it will not affect the rights and privileges enjoyed by the present tribal communities,” the report said.
According to the GoM recommendations, the ST (Valley) category will have separate reservation quotas, with distinct rosters and vacancy registers for all state government recruitments and educational institutions. Existing ST (Plains) and ST (Hills) quotas will remain fully protected, the report further stated.