News Highlight
On Tuesday, South Eastern Railway cancelled and diverted trains because of the blockades by Kurmis.
Key Takeaway
- The agitation comes a week after the Cabinet approved the inclusion of several communities in Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh in the list of Scheduled Tribes.
- Members of the Kurmi community claimed they had been registered as Scheduled Tribe till 1931 and excluded from the list for “unknown reasons” after the Independence.
- They were included in the Other Back Class list but deserved facilities of the ST community, they asserted.
Kurmi community
- Kurmi is traditionally a non-elite tiller caste in the lower Gangetic plain of India, especially southern regions of Awadh, eastern Uttar Pradesh and parts of Bihar.
- The Kurmis came to be known for their exceptional work ethic, superior tillage and manuring, and gender-neutral culture, bringing praise from Mughal and British administrators alike
The process of inclusion/exclusion from the Scheduled Tribes list
- The criteria to begin the process:
- To establish whether a community is a Scheduled Tribe, the Government looks at several criteria, including its
- Ethnological traits
- Traditional characteristics
- Distinctive culture
- Geographical isolation
- Backwardness
- To establish whether a community is a Scheduled Tribe, the Government looks at several criteria, including its
- The processing community added or removed from SC, ST lists:
- The process begins at the level of a State or Union Territory, with the concerned Government or administration seeking the addition or exclusion of a particular community from the SC or ST list.
- Final decision:
- The final decision rests with the President’s office issuing a notification specifying the changes under powers vested in it from Articles 341 and 342.
- Changes in law:
- The inclusion or exclusion of any community in the Scheduled Tribes or Scheduled Castes list comes into effect only after the President assents to a Bill that amends the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 and the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950, as is appropriate after it is passed by both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
- The number of Scheduled Tribes:
- According to the Scheduled Tribes in India, as revealed in Census 2011, there are said to be 705 ethnic groups listed as Scheduled Tribes under Article 342.
- The STs constitute 8.6% of the population and 11.3% of the rural population.
Articles 341 and 342.
- Articles 341:
- 341 (1): The President may with respect to any State or Union territory, and where it is a State after consultation with the Governor thereof, by public notification, specify the castes, races or tribes or parts of or groups within castes, races or tribes which shall for the purposes of this Constitution be deemed to be Scheduled Castes in relation to that State or Union territory, as the case may be
- 341 (2): Parliament may by law include in or exclude from the list of Scheduled Castes specified in a notification issued under clause ( 1 ) any caste, race or tribe or part of or group within any caste, race or tribe, but save as aforesaid a notification issued under the said clause shall not be varied by any subsequent notification
- Articles 342:
- 342 (1): The President may with respect to any State or Union territory, and where it is a State, after consultation with the Governor thereof, by public notification, specify the tribes or tribal communities or parts of or groups within tribes or tribal communities which shall for the purposes of this Constitution be deemed to be Scheduled Tribes in relation to that State or Union territory, as the case may be
- 342(2): Parliament may by law include in or exclude from the list of Scheduled Tribes specified in a notification issued under clause ( 1 ) any tribe or tribal community or part of or group within any tribe or tribal community, but save as aforesaid a notification issued under the said clause shall not be varied by any subsequent notification.
Content Source: The Hindu