The Lok Sabha on Friday passed the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2022, to amend the list of Scheduled Tribes in Uttar Pradesh.
Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda, replying to the debate, said the Narendra Modi government is committed to welfare of tribals and has increased budgetary allocation of tribal welfare schemes over the years.
In response to a demand from some members including Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and RSP’s N.K. Premachandran that the government bring in a comprehensive bill on tribal reservation instead of piece-meal legislations, the Minister said different States have different lists of tribes, prompting the government to bring different bills.
The bill for U.P. seeks to include Gond, Dhuria, Nayak, Ojha, Pathari and Rajgond communities living in the four newly created districts of the State — Sant Kabir Nagar, Kushinagar, Chandauli and Sant Ravidas Nagar —cin the list of Scheduled Tribes. It also seeks to exclude the Gond community living in these four districts from the list of Scheduled Castes.
Participating in the debate, several members sought better and a more effective implementation of the reservation policies for such categories.
BJP MP from Madhya Pradesh, Guman Singh Damor said poor and uneducated tribal communities are being converted by offering inducements and the government should exclude them fro the list of Scheduled Tribes.
Trinamool Congress leader Sougata Roy brought up the issue of Maoist militancy in tribal areas and stressed that it must contained through development.
Opening the debate, Congress member, Deepak Baij, who represents the tribal region of Bastar, urged the Minister to expedite a similar proposal from Chhattisgarh that seeks to include certain communities of the State in the list of Scheduled Tribes. He said the proposal from the State government has been pending with the Centre for a few years now.
BJP’s Jagdambika Pal said the government should initiate a census of the tribal population in the country and demanded more clarity in issuing caste certificates.
TMC MP Pratima Mondal said funds for the Scheduled Caste/Scedhuled Tribes remained unutilised and mere inclusion of more communities is not enough. Allocating more funds and creating awareness through education including having a compulsory chapter in school textbooks would help in more effectively implementing the reservation policy.
Shiv Sena’s Rajendra Gavit raised the issue of fake caste certificates in Maharashtra and said those communities that have moved out of Below Poverty Line Category because of reservation can be excluded.
YSR Congress Party’s Sajiv Kumar said the amendments reflected the aspirations of the marginalised communities.
