Union Minister Arjun Munda speaks in the Rajya Sabha during the Budget session of Parliament, in New Delhi. File.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Rajya Sabha on February 6 passed the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order Amendment Bill, 2024 and Constitution (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) Order Amendment Bill, 2024.
The first Bill adds synonyms for two ST communities to the ST list of Andhra Pradesh. Bondo Porja and Khond Porja are added as synonyms for the Porja tribe, and Konda Savara added as synonym of Savara community.
The second Bill adds four Particularly Tribal Vulnerable Groups to the ST list of the State of Odisha. These tribes have been added as synonyms or sub-tribes of communities that have already been on the ST list. In addition to this, the Bill adds two communities — Muka Dora and synonyms and Konda Reddy and synonyms — to the State’s ST list as new entries.
Two communities of Odisha — Tamadia and Tamudia — which were in the SC list for this long were also shifted to the ST list through this Bill. The Bill also adds more than a dozen synonyms and phonetic variations of existing STs to the State’s ST list
Members across party lines expressed their views on the two legislations, including from the BJP, Congress, TDP, DMK, Trinamool Congress, BJD and AIADMK.
Santanu Sen of the TMC said that “while standing to speak on this bill, it really gives me pain when I recall that the respected President of India who belongs to a tribal community is not invited during the inauguration of this new Parliament building or during the Pran Pratishtha in Ayodhya. This reflects how this government respects the tribal communities at large.”
L. Hanumanthaiah of the Congress sought to know why the government cannot look at the whole Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes list afresh and make it an inclusive list of SCs and STs across the country at a time so that this problem will not be there and every now and then we need not have to amend these bills from time to time.
(With inputs from PTI)