NEW DELHI: Cutting across party lines, a majority of leaders supported on Tuesday a bill taken up in the Rajya Sabha that seeks to include the Gond community in the Scheduled Tribes category in parts of Uttar Pradesh. Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda moved the Constitution (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) Orders (Second Amendment) Bill, 2022, and said that it aims to empower the ST community.
The bill seeks to amend the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) (Uttar Pradesh) Order, 1967 (ST Order) and the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 (SC Order) with respect to its application to Uttar Pradesh. It seeks inclusion of the Gond community in the Scheduled Tribes category in Chandauli, Kushinagar, Sant Kabir Nagar and Sant Ravidas Nagar districts of Uttar Pradesh, and also amends the ST order to recognise the community as ST in these four districts. It was earlier introduced in Lok Sabha on March 28 and was passed on April 1.
Initiating the discussion, Congress leader Pramod Tiwari wanted to know why the inclusion of the Gond community in the ST list was only limited to four districts and not to the entire state. He accused the government of ignoring the interests of SC and ST communities. “The minister should also reply as to why atrocities against SC and ST increase in the country whenever the BJP-led government is formed at the Centre? It was the Congress-led UPA government that had done a lot for STs and allocated funds,” Tiwari said.
RJD MP Manoj Kumar Jha said that the reservation cap for the OBCs in the country should be raised and a caste-based census conducted. He also questioned the abolition of many scholarships meant for ST and other communities. TMC MP Santanu Sen called the government’s welfare work for ST and SC communities “tokenism” and said “instead of shedding crocodile tears for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, the government should try to work on the ground for their betterment.”
While supporting the bill, Fauzia Khan of the NCP demanded the inclusion of Dhankhad community from Maharashtra to the ST list while RLD leader Jayant Chaudhary asked the same status for the UP’s Kol community.