Assam tribal body petitions President against ST status for six communities

The All Assam Tribal Students’ Union (AATSU) has petitioned President Droupadi Murmu against adding six major ethnic communities in Assam to the country’s Scheduled Tribes (ST) list.

Organisations of 14 tribes in Assam are opposed to a Group of Ministers report that proposes ways of granting the ST status to these six communities — Adivasi or ‘Tea Tribes’, Chutia, Koch-Rajbongshi, Matak, Moran, and Tai Ahom. The report was tabled in the 126-member State Assembly on November 29.

In a memorandum submitted to the President via the District Commissioner in western Assam’s Kokrajhar, the AATSU said the proposal was “anti-tribal” and warned that expanding the ST list without a comprehensive social assessment would dilute the Constitutional protections for Assam’s existing tribes.

Smaller indigenous groups, including the Bodos, Rabhas, and Misings, could suffer significant setbacks if larger and more socio-economically established communities are granted ST status, the organisation argued.

Including the six communities in the ST list could jeopardise reservation benefits, welfare schemes, and other socio-economic safeguards designed for genuinely marginalised tribal communities, the AATSU said. It also pointed out that the six communities “do not meet the parameters” laid down by the Lokur Committee, the long-established framework used to determine eligibility for inclusion as STs.

The organisation said these criteria include proven social and educational backwardness, a distinct and preserved cultural identity, and elements of geographical isolation.

Citing past legal judgments and Assam’s existing reservation matrix, the AATSU urged the President to not approve the proposal in its current form. “Any future consideration must be preceded by an impartial, evidence-based study conducted by experts in anthropology, Constitutional law, and tribal welfare,” it said.