Around 30,000 Marathi-speaking people residing in remote hamlets in Kasaragod district will now be re-enlisted as a Scheduled Tribe, according to P. Karunakaran, MP.
The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) took a decision in this regard following a meeting of the Union Scheduled Tribe Welfare Department and the Registrar General of India in New Delhi recently, Mr. Karunakaran told a press conference here on Friday.
The Marathi-speaking people in the district were excluded from the list of Scheduled Tribes following a study carried out by the Kerala Institute for Research, Training and Development Studies of Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Kirtads) in 2002. Kirtads is a State government agency that works for the development of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes by engaging in research and undertaking studies to identify problems faced by these marginalised sections and suggesting recommendations for their uplift.
Mr. Karunakaran, who represents Kasaragod in the Lok Sabha, had raised the issue in the lower Houser of Parliament.
The Registrar General of India and the NCST have completed the procedures to formally re-enlist the section in the category, he said adding the decision is expected to be ratified by Parliament during its monsoon session beginning August 8.
