CCTOA opposes ST status to six communities, stages sit-in Kokrajhar

Our Correspondent

KOKRAJHAR: The Co-ordination Committee of the Tribal Organizations of Assam (CCTOA), the umbrella organizations of the Scheduled Tribes (STs) of Assam, staged a two-hours sit-in at Children Park, near the DC office on Saturday and demanded not to grant Scheduled Tribes status to the six communities of Assam.

Talking to reporters, Ranjit Kr. Borgoyary, advisor of All Assam Tribal Sangha (AATS) said that they there had been reports in the media that the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, had made recommendations to grant ST status to these six communities and sent it to the Prime Minister’s office. He said the 13 existing STs of Assam would face problems and would lose the rights and privileges of ST if the six communities were included in the ST list. He reiterated that the reservation for tribal communities was being enjoyed by non-notified and non-ST communities. He also said in recent times, many non-tribal people were getting government jobs by violating the rules of tribal people. He further said that the Rajbongshis had migrated from parts of West Bengal and erstwhile East Pakistan and therefore could not be categorized as ST.

A memorandum was also sent to the Prime Minister of India through Kokrajhar DC demanding to stop the process to grant ST status to the six communities of Assam and to check violation of reservation quota for tribal communities.

Also read: Centre Trying To Drive A Wedge Among Tribes: CCTOA