Al Haqeeqa
New Delhi: Cutting across party lines, Rajya Sabha members on Tuesday largely supported a bill for recognising the Gond community hailing from four districts of Uttar Pradesh as a Scheduled Tribe after excluding them from the Scheduled Castes list.
The four districts are Chandauli, Kushinagar, Sant Kabir Nagar and Sant Ravidas Nagar.
Some opposition members also demanded a similar review of more communities for inclusion in the Scheduled Tribes list and a caste-based census in the country during the debate on the Constitution (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) Orders (Second Amendment) Bill, 2022.
The Bill was moved by Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda.
Lok Sabha has already passed the bill which amends the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 and the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) (Uttar Pradesh) Order, 1967 to exclude the Gond community as a Scheduled Caste and amends the ST order to recognise it as a Scheduled Tribe in the four districts.
During the debate, Manoj Kumar Jha of the RJD said the government should go for a caste-based census and in the meanwhile also implement 52 per cent reservation for the backward communities.
CPI Member Santhosh Kumar P said there is a need to take up the welfare of the tribals and the backward communities seriously.
While supporting a caste-based census, he also asked the government to look into the welfare of denotified tribes.
Samir Oraon (BJP) said that due to the efforts of the present government, the backward classes were moving ahead.
He alleged that the previous governments never cared for them and it is only the BJP government that is working for the welfare of such communities.
L Hanumanthaiah of the Congress Party said he supports the bill and the government should look into the status of some more communities from the Scheduled Castes list across the country.
He also said there is a need to provide more protection to the people from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
Citing some recent cases of violence against members of the Scheduled Castes community in Uttar Pradesh, he said:” Unless they take some measures, just passing a law will not solve the problem.”
Hanumanthaiah also demanded a caste-based census in the country. According to Hanumanthaiah, the reported crimes against Scheduled Tribes were 8,272 in 2020 and increased to 8,802 in 2021, and he asked the government to look into it.
“If you do not protect them, strengthen them by the budgetary allocation, then what is the point in the list of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes … then only this law would have some meaning,” he said.
Fauzia Khan of the NCP supported the bill and demanded the Dhankhad community from Maharashtra be added to the Scheduled Tribes list.
Jayant Chaudhary demanded that the Kol community from UP be accorded the Schedules Caste status. He also supported a caste-based census.
G K Vasan from TMC (M) supported the bill and asked the government to add the Narikuravar community from Tamil Nadu to the Scheduled Tribes list.
BJP members – Jugalsinh Lokhandwala, Ramilaben Becharbhai Bara, Brijlal, Sakal Deep Rajbhar, Vinay Dinu Tendulkar and Biplab Kumar Deb – also supported the bill.
The Minister would reply to the bill on Wednesday.
