NEW DELHI: The Parliament on Thursday passed a bill which seeks to grant Scheduled Tribe status to Narikoravan and Kurivikkaran communities in Tamil Nadu.
The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Second Amendment) Bill, 2022 was passed through a voice vote in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
The bill, which was piloted by the Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda, has already been passed by Lok Sabha on December 15, 2022.
The bill follows the suggestion of the Tamil Nadu government that the two communities be included in the list of Scheduled Tribes (ST) in the state.
Replying to the debate, Munda said the number of these communities is very less and faced hardship and were deprived of their rights even after the independence of the country.
The government is working on the tribal-related issues, removing discrepancies and has ensured to give justice to them, he added.
The minister said various members have raised demands to add more communities from their respective areas to the tribal list and the government is sensitive about it.
"The government is trying to solve the issues," he said, adding the government has taken similar requests for the states of Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka.
While participating in the debate, members from different parties sought reservations for tribal communities from their areas.
M Thambidurai of the AIADMK supported the bill and said some more communities from Tamil Nadu need to be added in this.
He said fishing is also hunting in the sea, so therefore there is a demand from Tamil Nadu to add fishermen into the tribal communities.
Other communities such as Valmiki, Vaduga and kuruba must be included in the tribe list, Thambidurai said.
Mamta Mohanta of the BJD said there are 62 communities from Orissa in the tribes' list.
However, there are more communities, which are required to be added to the tribe's list who are deprived of their fundamental rights.
G K Vasan of the TMC (M) said it was a long pending demand to include Narikoravan and Kurivikkaran communities in the list of Scheduled Tribes in Tamil Nadu.
He also raised the demand to include fishermen, Valmikis and some other communities to be included in the tribal list.
Mahua Majhi said the central government is "ignoring the request of tribals from Jharkhand of Sarna Code" for the inclusion of Sarna as a separate religion.
Jharkhand has witnessed a fall in the tribal population.
"In 1931, the tribal population was 38.3 per cent and in 2011 it was reduced to 26.2 per cent," she said, adding the tribal migrating to other states for jobs are deprived of the benefits.
Former prime minister and JDS member H D Devegowda also requested to consider some communities to be included in the tribal list.
Describing it as a "great step and historical move", Tiruchi Siva of the DMK supported the bill and said these two communities are going to flourish in the coming days.
"After seven decades of independence and becoming a republic, now we are identifying some of the communities to be brought under the tribes," he said.
He also raised the issue of uprooting several tribal villages due to industrialisation and mining operations.
The tribe lives with nature but they are unable to mix with the mainstream.
GVL Narashima Rao (BJP) said this "bill clearly is an expression of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's commitment to the welfare of the marginalised sections" which have so far been neglected.
Ramji of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) said around 75,000 posts of the scheduled tribes, 1.5 lakh of scheduled caste and 2.5 lakh of OBC people in the central government are vacant and asked to fill it.
He also urged the government to open a Central Tribal University in Telangana, which was promised during the Andhra Pradesh reorganisation.
K Ravindra Kumar of the TDP said merely including the community in the tribes' list is not sufficient.
"It is the duty of the government to create infrastructure like drinking water, housing, healthcare, and employment as people belonging to ST are subject to discrimination and humiliation".
S Mohamed Abdulla of DMK, K Laxman of BJP, Ryaga Krishnaiah of YSRCP, KRN Rajesh Kumar of DMK and Sant Balbir Singh of AAP also participated in the discussion and supported the bill.