Parliament passes bill to amend Scheduled Tribes list relating to Arunachal Pradesh

Rajya Sabha on August 5, 2021, passed the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2021. The bill seeks to amend the constitutional list of the Scheduled Tribes as recommended by the state of Arunachal Pradesh.

The bill in Rajya Sabha was passed by voice vote amid the ongoing protest by the Opposition parties over the issues of Agricultural laws, Pegasus and others.

The Union Tribal Affairs Minister, Arjun Munda while informing about the amendment bill said that it will bring justice to tribals.

The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill

Inclusion and Exclusion of tribes-

• On the basis of the recommendation of Arunachal Pradesh, the amendment bill provides for modifying Part-XV111 of the Schedule of the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950, relating to the State of Arunachal Pradesh.

• The bill provides for the deletion of Abor Tribe from the list of identified STs in Arunachal Pradesh. The Abor (tribe) in serial No.1 will be deleted, as it is the same as ‘Adi’ in serial No. 16.

• The bill also proposes to replace ‘Tai Khamti’ instead of ‘Khampti’ at serial No. 6 of the list.

• The amendment bill provides for the inclusion of ‘Mishmi-Kaman (Miju Mishmi)’, ‘Idu (Mishmi)’ and ‘Taraon (Digaru Mishmi)’ in serial 8 in lieu of ‘Mishmi, Idu, Taroan’ in the list.

• The bill will facilitate the inclusion of ‘Tangsa’, ‘Nocte’, ‘Tutsa’, ‘Wancho’ in lieu of ‘Any Naga Tribes’ in serial No. 10 of the list.

Other details-

• The amendment done in the list of Scheduled Tribes relating to Arunachal Pradesh will entail no additional recurring expenditure from the Consolidated Fund of India on account of the benefits that are likely to be provided to the persons belonging to the communities proposed in the bill.

• The ministry has already been funding for the welfare of 10.45 crores Scheduled Tribes Population.

• Further, the STs are also eligible for the benefits under the Scheduled Tribes Component (STC) of the schemes under the Central and State Governments.

Background:

The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2021, was introduced in Rajya Sabha by the Union Minister on August 2, 2021. At present, there are communities with their synonyms appearing in the illustrative list of the Scheduled Tribes in respect of Arunachal Pradesh.