Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Thawar Chand Gehlot has said that there was no proposal before the Centre to include Patel and Jat communities in central list of Other Backward Class and Gujjar community in the central list of Scheduled Tribes.
When there is a proposal from the States for new inclusion to the central list of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes or Other Backward Class, the decision would be taken after seeking the opinion of the office of Registrar General and Census Commissioner and the national level commissions for Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Class.
So far, the Centre has not received any proposal from States on the inclusion of Patel and Jat communities in central list of Other Backward Class and Gujjar community in the central list of Scheduled Tribes, he told press persons here on Tuesday.
Domicile in forest region
Replying to a query on the problems faced by the farmers in Malnad region in furnishing the documents related to domicile in forest region during the past 75 years, or three generations, to get title deeds under Forest Rights Act over the forest land they are cultivating, he said he would discuss the issue with Minister for Forest and Environment Prakash Javadekar.
The possibility of amending Forest Rights Act will also be contemplated to ensure conferring of title deeds in an expedited manner, he said.
