By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday wrote a letter to Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda for consideration of 160 proposals for inclusion in ST list in Odisha.
‘This is regarding inclusion of communities recommended by Odisha for inclusion in the ST list of Odisha.Since 1978 onwards, Odisha has recommended more than 160 communities of the State to Ministry of Tribal Affairs for their inclusion in the ST list with approval from Tribal Advisory Council . Among these, some are new entries. some others are sub tribes, subsets, synonymous and phonetc variations of existing ST communities residing in different parts of the State, who are being deprived of the benefits by STs though they have the same tribal characteristic as their respective notified STs,’ CM argued in his letter.
“I am given to understand that a Task Force under MTA had recommended 9 proposals from Odisha as priority cases for inclusion in the ST list of the State in 2014 but the same is yet to be notified in the Presidential order. Because of the delay in thier inclusion in the ST list, all these 160 plus communities of the State are victims of historical injustice,’’ Patnaik wrote.
‘I would therefore request you to kindly look into this long pending matter and expedite the scheduling of these left out communities to deliver social justice to them in accordance with the provision of the Constitution. This shall go a long way in helping these deprived communities by giving them their much needed recognition as ST and ensure social justice,” CM Patnaik mentioned in his letter to Union Minister Munda.
“I would like to bring the above matter for your kind perusal and urge for urgent action,’ CM Patnaik added while reminding about State’s communication to MTA since 2011.
