In a report presented to the state Assembly on Saturday, a group of ministers tasked with formulating recommendations regarding the demand for Scheduled Tribe status made by six communities in Assam stated that it found "full justification" for adding these communities to the ST list and suggested creating a separate category of ST (Valley).
The six communities demand has been met with opposition from Assamese Scheduled Tribes, and protesting students stormed the Bodoland Territorial Council secretariat building on Saturday.
At the close of the Assembly's winter session, the report was presented late on Saturday night in the midst of a protest by Opposition MLAs calling for a discussion of the report. Speaker Biswajit Daimary rejected this request, and as soon as the report was presented, the meeting was adjourned.
A few hours prior, hundreds of students attacked the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) administration in Kokrajhar, causing damage to desks, chairs, and other equipment.
The demonstrating students called that the six communities to be excluded from the ST list. The largest ST group in Assam is the Bodos, a plain tribe.
The Tai Ahoms, tea tribes or Adivasis, Moran, Motok, Chutia, and Koch-Rajbongshi are the six groups that have been fighting for ST designation for a long time. They make up about 27% of Assamese people and are currently included in the state's Other Backward Classes list.
In order to increase pressure on the administration in advance of the state's impending elections, organizations from all six groups have been organizing large-scale protests for the previous two months.
A bill to include these communities on Assam's ST list was introduced in the Rajya Sabha prior to the 2019 Lok Sabha election, however it was not discussed or approved.
In accordance with directives from the Home Ministry, the Group of Ministers was established that year and has since been reorganized twice in order "to determine quantum of reservation for six communities in the State, suggest revised quantum of reservation for OBCs after creation of a new ST category in Assam and measures ensuring full safeguard to protect the interests, rights, and privileges of the existing Scheduled Tribes of Assam."
The central government will receive the report that the Group of Ministers submitted on Saturday. The establishment of a "three-tier classification" of Assamese Scheduled Tribes "to protect the political rights and socio-economic and educational interests of existing ST communities, while accommodating the six communities" is the report's main suggestion.
As of right now, Assamese ST communities are divided into two groups: ST (Plains) with 10% reservations and ST (Hills) with 5% reservations.
For the Ahom, Chutia, tea tribes, Adivasis, and Koch-Rajbongshis (apart from those who live in the undivided Goalpara region), the research suggests creating a separate ST (Valley) category.
It suggests that the Morans, Motoks, and Koch Rajbonghis in the unidivided Goalpara subject to a NOC from the BTC for portions of undivided Goalpara under the BTC be added to the ST (Plains) list because they have "clear ethnographic characteristics, identifiable settlement areas, and limited overlap with other social groups" and because the current ST (Plains) communities are less likely to oppose their inclusion.
According to the article, "existing ST(P) and ST(H) quotas will remain fully protected," and a ST(Valley) category created in this way will have independent reservation quotas with unique rosters and vacancy registries for all state government recruitment and educational institutions.
However, as there is only one national ST list, it suggests that all of these communities compete under the same ST pool in the event of central government reservations.
It recommends that Lok Sabha constituencies that are now covering Sixth Schedule territories Kokrajhar and Diphu be permanently reserved for the existing ST(P) and ST(H) respectively, by a constitutional amendment.
It says that as the number of reserved seats will rise "in view of the fact that a large number of people will now be recognised as Scheduled Tribes in the state of Assam," more seats must be set aside for ST(V) in the Parliament.
Additionally, the paper offers a number of suggestions for temporary arrangements while the Union government takes them into consideration.
In order to meet the 27% OBC quota, the state's current OBC population is divided into seven groups, one for each of the six communities in question and one for the remaining OBCs.
In order to grant each of these subcategories the right to a state government reservation based on their respective populations "on a pro rata basis," it suggests conducting a thorough socioeconomic assessment and enumeration.
It suggests, among other things, that OBC communities be given reservations in Assamese local bodies, such as panchayats and ULBs, and that the state government pass legislation prohibiting the transfer of these six communities and the current STs land to non-community members.
