NEW DELHI: The government on Friday introduced four separate bills in the Lok Sabha to revise the list of Scheduled Tribes in Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Himachal Pradesh. The inclusion of certain communities in the ST list has been a long pending demand of these states. Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda introduced the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bills 2022 for Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Himachal Pradesh.
The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Second Amendment) Bill, which was introduced in Lok Sabha, seeks to modify the list of Scheduled Tribes in Tamil Nadu. Similarly, the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Third Amendment) Bill is intended to provide for the inclusion of certain communities in the list of Scheduled Tribes in Himachal Pradesh. Another bill seeks to revise the list of Scheduled Tribes in Karnataka. The fourth bill aims to include certain communities in the list of Scheduled Tribes in Chhattisgarh.
In September this year, the Union cabinet approved the inclusion of several communities in the Schedule Tribes list of the Constitution across four states, as part of the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill 2022. In Tamil Nadu, it proposed the inclusion of ‘Narikoravan’ and ‘Kurivikkaran’ communities in the list of state’s STs. It has also proposed granting tribal status to the Hatti community living in the Trans-Giri region of Himachal Pradesh. In Karnataka it suggested the communities, namely, ‘Betta-Kuruba’ community as a synonym of ‘Kadu Kuruba’ in the state’s ST list and it said that 12 communities from Chhattisgarh will be included in the list of Scheduled Tribes for the state.
Earlier in the day, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury targeted the government alleging that demonetisation failed to meet its objectives and circulation of fake currency has gone up. “The health of the economy is in a bad shape because of demonetization. It was launched with the aim of bringing back black money and preventing fake currency and terrorism. Nothing has been fulfilled,” he said.
More than 50 private member bills were tabled in the LS on Friday, including the one seeking to revert to the old system of voting through ballot papers.
‘Have suggested HCs to curtail vacations’
Responding to the questions by BJP MP Balak Nath during the Question Hour in the Lok Sabha, Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on Friday said that the government to clear pendency in higher judiciary has suggested CJs of HCs to curtail the vacations by 10-15 days and extend working hours of courts by
at least 30 minutes.