New Delhi
The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday passed by a voice vote the Constitution (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) Orders (Second Amendment) Bill, 2022 that was introduced by Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda to accord ST status to the Gond community in Uttar Pradesh. The bill was passed by the Lok Sabha in April this year.
The bill seeks to amend the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) (Uttar Pradesh) Order, 1967 (ST Order) and the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 (SC Order) with respect to its application to Uttar Pradesh.
The bill amends the Scheduled Castes order to exclude the Gond community as a Scheduled Caste in four districts of Uttar Pradesh: Chandauli, Kushinagar, Sant Kabir Nagar, and Sant Ravidas Nagar. It amends the ST order to recognise the Gond community as a Scheduled Tribe in these four districts.
Replying to discussion on the bill, Munda said the issue has been pending since the 1980s and blamed the then government led by Congress for ignoring the plight of the Gond community and denying them of their constitutional rights through Schedule Tribes category.
On April 22, 1981 the Uttar Pradesh government had written a letter related to the Gond community stating that on the basis of their lifestyle, culture and from every aspect they exhibited characters of w Scheduled Tribe, he said. In those days, the Gond community was included under STs in other states, Munda pointed out.
Munda lamented that the issue has remained unresolved till now with the people of the community unable to raise their voice at the Centre and that the then government did not implement the recommendations of the Lokur Committee for the uplift of tribals, keeping in mind their culture, lifestyle, closeness to nature and backwardness, and give them their constitutional rights.
As a result, he said the country is facing the issue of tribals being left behind in the growth and development witnessed by India. The government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been working for the betterment of tribals in the last eight years and would continue to do so, Munda said.
Taking a dig at the Opposition over their attitude towards tribals, Munda said if they had cared, the first woman President from tribal community Droupadi Murmu would have been elected to the top constitutional post unanimously and now some of them have even started criticising her as well.
