BJSM slams ST quota distribution, calls proposed move 'anti-tribal'

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KOKRAJHAR: The Bodoland Janajati Suraksha Mancha (BJSM) on Tuesday slammed the recommendation of the Group of Ministers, Assam to distribute ST quota among the desiring communities and said the move was 'anti-tribal'.

The president of the BJSM, Janaklal Basumatary in a statement said that the Group of Ministers' exercise to distribute ST quota to 41 communities for granting ST status was futile and unconstitutional. He said the proposed transfer of OBC quota to ST quota was not permissible as the categories of both the quotas were different. "The 41 communities are OBC quota beneficiaries. There is no change of situation that the OBC beneficiary needs transfer to ST beneficiary. By transferring OBC quota to ST quota, the Group of Ministers will not be able to justify that the advanced communities of OBC quota beneficiaries will not harm the interest of the existing weaker section of ST beneficiaries, which they must ensure while reporting to the Union Home Ministry," he said.

Basumatary said that in Assam, the ST list was divided into two parts- part I and part II. Part- I is ST Hills and part-II is ST plains. This is in accordance with provision of Article 342 (1) (2) where communities can be of state or part of the state. So division of ST in different parts of State is possible but there is no provision to divide ST into new or other ST category which the Group of Ministers is exercising. He said that the Koch Rajbongshis had been offered ST (P) status in erstwhile undivided Goalpara district and rest ST (N-New) which was 'ridiculous' as there could not be such division of ST category. The Koch Rajbongshi organizations demanded to be enlisted in ST (P) in erstwhile Goalpara district as well as other areas including BTC area, he said, adding that the Government of Assam could not accede to this Koch Rajbongshi demand which would be harmful to the existing ST (P) communitues of Assam. Likewise, the Group of Ministers could not distribute OBC quota to ST quota for ST (N) or ST (O) for all 41 communities unconstitutionally, he added.

"Moreover, the ethnographic report of Koch Rajbongshi community cannot justify that Koch Rajbongshi is identical and same ethnic group. It deals with the Koch community only which belongs to the Tibeto-Burman speaking Mongolian group. There is no ethnic group by the name 'Koch Rajbongshi'. Rajbongshis are identified as separate group. So ethnographically Koch and Rajbongshi are separate ethnic groups. In West Bengal they are separately recognized as SC in sl. No.24 Koch, sl. No.38 Rajbongshi, in Meghalaya Koch is recognized as ST, Rajbongshi general caste as there is no OBC or SC in Meghalaya," Basumatary said.

The tribal leader said that in Assam, originally 'Koch' and 'Rajbongshi' were separately recognized as OBC, only Rajbongshis were enlisted in OBC list in sl. No.18 as Koch or Rajbongshi in 2011 by the backward class commission. "This does not mean that Koch and Rajbongshi are same ethnic groups. Since 'Koch' and 'Rajbongshi' are not same ethnic group, the Assam Government cannot recommend 'Koch Rajbongshi' for ST status under Article 342(1) (2) of the Constitution which says community or group of communities of same ethnic group. No ST quota is possible for Koch Rajbongshi," he said, adding that the Group of Ministers could not simply ignore the Koch community's claim that they were not Rajbongshi and they must be recognized as ST separately.

"The tea worker community in Assam is enjoying MOBC quota for 91 different communities. Out of this, the Assam Government picks up 36 communities for ST status recommendation. The ethnographic report clearly states that all these communities belong to Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chattishgarh and Madhya Pradesh. Not a single community is a community of Assam. They have migrated to work in tea gardens of Assam as contract labourers. It is not true that they were brought by the British forcefully for labour work. The British recruited them as contract labour after duly enacting contract act. They were free to go back to their original homes in the respective States after expiry of the contract. But they continued to stay back and their generations were engaged in tea garden work. They do not have connection with their original community in their State of origin. So their community in their respective State of origin is not community of Assam. Thus, following this ethnographic report, the Assam Government should not have recommended these 36 tea workers communities for ST status as they have migrated from other States and do not belong to community of Assam," said Basumatary.

"The ethnographic report of the Ahoms, Chutiyas, Morans andMataks are also states that all of them are not single ethnic community. Over a period of time they became mixed ethnic communities having merged with general Assamese caste communities socially, linguistically, culturally and religiously. Therefore, no ST status can be granted to them with transferring OBC quota to ST quota for them. Moreover, they are securing half of the general category quota in addition to their 27 per cent reservation quota in jobs, higher education admissions and technical education admission entrance examinations. So the OBC quota of these communities cannot be transferred to ST quota which will definitely harm the existing ST," he said.

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