The Legislative Assembly unanimously passed a resolution for recognising the Valmiki and the Boya communities as Scheduled Tribes (STs) on Saturday.
The resolution was moved by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and supported by the TDP and BJP MLAs.
Tag in many States
Mr. Naidu said the two communities had tribal status in many States but remained marginalised in Andhra Pradesh devoid of that recognition.
Minister Kalava Srinivasulu said the communities had been leading a nomadic existence for a long time and desperately needed to be recognised as STs which, he said, was not detrimental to the benefits being enjoyed by other ST communities. Praising Mr. Naidu sky high, he said he would go down in the history as the saviour of the communities.
BJP floor leader P. Vishnu Kumar Raju said he was thankful on behalf of his party to the Chief Minister for the resolution, and suggested that another oppressed community Mandala should be identified as Scheduled Caste for improving their living standards.
