Representatives of six ethnic communities demanding Scheduled Tribe status met Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal in New Delhi on April 25.
The leaders of the six ethnic communities apprised the chief minister about the outcome of the tripartite talks on granting of ST status with Union minister Kiren Rijiju at his North Block office in New Delhi on April 24.
Terming the outcome as positive, the leaders said the talks were held in a cordial atmosphere with good sense prevailing on all sides.
Talking to the representatives of the six ethnic communities, the chief minister said that the central and state governments are wholly committed to granting the ST status to them. “We are totally committed towards granting ST status to six communities of the state. And we are moving in the right direction,” he said, adding that the leaders must exercise patience and continue to help the government to take the discussion to its logical conclusion.
Union minister of state for home Kiren Rijiju said that the Centre is committed to grant ST status to six communities in Assam and it is working in that direction.
“We are committed to grant ST status to six OBC communities in Assam. The central government has already set up a committee to examine the proposal and it is working on it,” he said.
The six communities seeking ST status in Assam are Moran, Muttock, Tai Ahom, Koch-Rajbongshi, Chutiya and Tea Tribes.
A modality committee is consulting the senior officials of Assam home department and all other stake-holders. It is examining various issues for suggesting the modalities for the required reservations and shifting the existing reservation for these communities from OBC to ST.
The committee is in the process of framing a mechanism to ensure fairness of reservations within these six communities, ensuring interests of existing tribal communities and security-related considerations.
It will submit its report on June 30 and the Centre is expected to move further on the basis of its recommendations.
