Lok Sabha on December 15, 2022 passed the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Second Amendment) Bill, 2022 to include the Narikoravan and Kurivikkaran hill tribes of Tamil Nadu in the Scheduled Tribes list of the State through a voice vote after the discussion on the Bill was concluded and Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda moved a motion for the House to pass it.
VCK MP D Ravikumar had moved an amendment to the Bill to change the names of the tribes to “Narikoravar” and “Kuruvikkarar”, which was supported by DMK MP DNK Senthilkumar, CPI member K Subbarayyan. But when put to voice vote, this amendment was defeated.
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In response to the point on changing the spelling of these communities to something that is more respectful, Mr. Munda said, “We took notice of this matter and immediately reached out to the state government to correspond with them. We got them to provide the revenue records which contain mentions of these communities from decades ago and the spelling that has been brought in has been according to these records only.”
In his concluding remarks on the Bill, Mr. Munda rose in Lok Sabha to say that this was a very important one. “Tamil Nadu’s population is over 7 crore and these communities number at just about 27,000 and the importance of reaching them is something the Narendra Modi government understands. The fact that we are choosing to focus on the development of a community of 27,000 people in a country with over 130 crore, shows this government’s thinking. This is not vote politics.”
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On Thursday, even as Mr. Munda said that these communities are primarily hunter-gatherers. Mr. Senthilkumar (DMK) and others pointed out that the Tendu leaves they collect for their livelihoods, now that hunting is illegal, has a GST of 18%, which in no way allows for them to live off their livelihoods.
During the discussion on the Bill over the last two days, several members consistently raised the point that just including them in the ST list will not be enough and that the government must think of framing policies that actually benefit them. Members like Supriya Sule of the NCP also urged the government to consider the requests of many other communities demanding ST status and bring a comprehensive Bill for the same instead of bringing Bills “piece-by-piece”.
