Assam govt move to put 6 OBC groups in tribes’ list opposed

TRIBAL COMMUNITIES ARE WORRIED THAT IF THESE ‘ADVANCED AND POPULOUS’ GROUPS ARE RECOGNISED AS TRIBES, THEY WOULD CORNER THE BULK OF QUOTAS IN JOBS AND EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

The Assam government’s assurance to include six OBC communities in the Scheduled Tribe roll in the state is being opposed by representatives of tribes already on the list.

On Friday, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Guwahati inaugurating the Dhola-Sadiya bridge between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, members of tribal communities from Assam were in the Capital demanding protection of their rights.

As many as 19 tribal communities under the umbrella of the Coordination Committee of Tribal Organisations of Assam (CCTOA) has opposed the move to include Ahom, Koch-Rajbangshi, Moran, Matak, Chutiya, and Adivasi (tea tribes) in the list on grounds that it would deprive them of the benefits of reservation. The ST list includes communities such as the Bodo, Tiwa, Karbi, Dimasa, Mising, Sonowal, Garo and Deuri.

Tribal communities are worried that if these “advanced and populous” communities are recognised as tribes, they would corner the bulk of quotas in jobs and educational institutions.

The inclusion of these six communities in the tribal list has been the ruling BJP’s poll promise; in April, chief minister Sarbanand Sonowal met representatives of these communities and reiterated his government’s commitment to fulfil the promise. The Centre has set up a committee to examine the proposal and is expected to submit its report by the end of June.

But tribal communities have urged the government to rethink the proposal, pointing out that inclusion of prosperous communities that are politically and economically powerful would “decimate” tribals. of country’s roads are highways of total accidents in the country happen on highways

of road fatalities occur during highway accidents Fatalities increase of road fatalities take place in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra accidents take place on Indian roads every day

deaths are reported daily