Call to include Meiteis in the ST list makes it to LS as a poser
State proposal a prerequisite: MoS Tribal Affairs
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, December 19 2024: Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Durgadas Uikey has categorically stated that any claim for inclusion of a community in the Scheduled Tribes list must be preceded by a proposal from the State Government concerned.

Replying to a question raised by Dr Angomcha Bimol Akoijam in the Lok Sabha today, Durgadas Uikey said that as per the modalities laid down by the Government of India, only those proposals which have been recommended and justified by the State Govt/UT administration concerned and concurred with by the Registrar General of India and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes are to be considered.

Proposal from the State/ UT administration concerned is a prerequisite to process any claim for inclusion or exclusion from the ST list.

All actions on such proposals are taken as per the approved modalities for deciding the claims for inclusion in, exclusion from ST and SC lists, and other modifications, Durgadas Uikey said.

Earlier, Dr Bimol Akoijam asked whether any steps have been taken up by the Government to include the Meitei community in the States of Assam, Tripura and Manipur in the ST list.

He also asked about the current status of any such proposal for considering the longstanding demand for the inclusion of the Meitei community in the ST list along with the action taken in this regard.

Significantly a number of civil society organisations including the Scheduled Tribe Demand Committee, Manipur (STDCM), the World Meetei Cuncil (WMC), the Meetei/Meitei Tribe Union (MMTU) and others have been demanding that the State Government send the needed recommendation to include the Meitei community in the ST list.

The demand that the recommendation should be sent gained traction after the Union Tribal Affairs Ministry wrote to the State Government back in 2013 to send the socio-economic report of the Meitei community for consideration of its inclusion in the ST list.

At one point of time, current Rajya Sabha MP Leishemba Sanajaoba had taken part in a rally demanding ST status for the Meiteis, which was organised by the STDCM.

More recently the STDCM had also knocked on the doors of all the 40 Meitei MLAs to elicit support to the demand that the Meiteis be included in the ST list.

Back in 2013 the Congress was in power at Manipur and at Delhi too.

For the past 11 years the Congress and the BJP Governments have slept over the report sought by the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

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