New Delhi
The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday passed The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Third Amendment) Bill 2022 by voice vote. Lok Sabha had cleared the bill in December 2022.
Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda said that the Bill provides justice to the Hattee community of Trans Giri area of Sirmour district and that the ST population in Himachal Pradesh will go up to 5.5 lakh, from 3.5 lakh currently.
Once the bill gets the President’s nod, members of the Hattee community will be entitled to all benefits which are provided to the Scheduled Tribes, especially reservation in educational institutions and government jobs. Age-old traditions such as animal sacrifice make the Hattee a distinct community with modernisation yet to sink in.
The erstwhile Jairam Thakur dispensation had made a strong pitch for including the Hattee community in the list of Scheduled Tribes in respect of the State.
The demand is nothing new. It had started way back in 1967 when Jaunsar-Bawar areas of Uttarakhand, which share boundaries with the Trans-Giri area, were granted the Scheduled Area status.
The Trans-Giri area of Sirmaur district was part of the erstwhile Jaunsar Bawar area of Uttarakhand, where the community was granted the ST status way back in 1967. Both areas were part of the royal erstwhile Sirmaur state though Jaunsar Bawar area separated in 1815. The Government of Himachal Pradesh first sent a proposal in May, 2005 to MoTA seeking the ST status.
Earlier, Munda introduced the Bill amid walkout of opposition bloc INDIA against the government’s stance on the demand for a discussion on the Manipur issue.
Taking part in the discussion, Mamata Mahanta of BJD supported the legislation saying the Hattee community has been demanding for this for a long time but said by just including the community in the ST list will not benefit them and efforts have to be made to provide them higher education and for their economic development.
BJP members Sikander Kumar, Sumer Singh Solanki, Ramilaben Becharbhai Bara, Kalpana Saini supported the bill saying it reflected Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government’s “sabka saath sabka vikas” motto.
Solanki alleged that opposition members always stayed away from the House whenever there is a discussion on tribals as they never cared for them. He said for five decades the Hattee community has been asking for this step which the Congress government never considered.
While Ryaga Krishnaiah (YSRCP) spoke in Telugu during the discussion on the bill, M Thambidurai (AIADMK) also asked for the inclusion of certain communities in Tamil Nadu, including the fishermen community, in the list of ST.
Several other BJP members, including Samir Oraon, Sakaldeep Rajbhar, Vinay Dinu Tendulkar, Ram Chander Jangra, Sumitra Balmik and Ajay Pratap Singh, also supported the legislation.
