GUWAHATI, June 6?The State Government has made a fresh request to the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs to reconsider the demand of the Koch-Rajbongshis of the State for inclusion in the list of Scheduled Tribes (ST), excluding areas of North Cachar Hills and Karbi Anglong Autonomous Councils.
The justification provided by the State for inclusion of Koch-Rajbongshis in the ST list is that these people are categorised as STs in West Bengal and Meghalaya, while in Tripura, they are treated as Scheduled Caste (SC); the Assam Institute of Research and Training also recommended inclusion of these people in the list of ST. The State Government?s fresh request on the matter was made on May 14 last.
Earlier, the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs said in a communication to the State Government (No 12016/14/2001-TA(RL)) that the Registrar General of India had opined that the Koch-Rajbongshis of Assam did not possess Tribal characteristics and hence had rejected the claim of the community for its specification as ST. Further, the National Commission for SCs and STs also observed earlier that the Koch-Rajbongshis of Assam did not fulfill the criteria laid down for being classified as ST, said the Union Tribal Affairs Ministry communication.