During a meeting with State Tribal Affairs Minister Dr. Ranoj Pegu on Thursday, the Coordination Committee of Tribal Organizations, Assam (CCTOA) voiced concerns about specific aspects of the Group of Ministers (GoM) report on awarding Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to six groups.
However, the tribal authority insisted that ongoing communication with the government may fix the problems. The CCTOA presented its interim recommendations and objections to the State government during its initial formal meeting regarding the GoM report.
The organization reaffirmed its worry that the suggested modifications might affect the rights and advantages of current tribal groups, who had previously burned copies of the GoM report in protest of the suggestions.
One of the main arguments put out by the CCTOA was that advantages associated to the Central government, such as employment, administration, or admittance to any institution, should not fall under the proposed ST(V) category.
In order to protect the tribal population under the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) and the Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council, the organization further demanded that the undivided Goalpara district be kept outside the purview of granting ST status to the Koch-Rajbongshi community.
The government promised that the proposed framework would not restrict the rights of current Scheduled Tribes. The meeting's chair, Dr. Pegu, stated, "I met the CCTOA to discuss the GoM report in accordance with the Cabinet decision of November 30, 2025." There was a thorough explanation of the suggestions and actions put out to protect the current ST communities.
For clarity, Pegu continued, CCTOA was urged to review "chapters five and six" of the report jointly. "They informed us that they will form an expert committee and submit a report within a month based on our clarifications," he stated.
According to Aditya Khaklari, chief coordinator of CCTOA, the organization's stance is still based on worries about the well-being of current tribal tribes.
"We have been against the proposal because it will impact the State's current tribal population, which already confronts many difficulties.
We thought that the benefits for the current tribes might be curtailed after reviewing the recommendations. We burned the report because of this," he stated.
Additionally, the tribal body has agreed to form a consultative panel made up of retired judges, legislators, and tribal intellectuals.
The Union Home Minister, the Chief Minister of Assam, and CCTOA would meet in a tripartite manner after the Chief Minister-level discussion.
Due to the ongoing negotiations, all forms of protest have been suspended. Surnames alone are insufficient for establishing identity, according to CCTOA, which called for a more trustworthy identification and verification process for determining ST(P) eligibility with relation to the Motok community.
