Procedure Involved in Inclusion or Exclusion from Scheduled Tribes list

Procedure Involved in Inclusion or Exclusion from Scheduled Tribes list

Context:

  • Recently, the Union Cabinet approved a proposal to add several tribes to the list of Scheduled Tribes (ST) in States such as Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh, so that they can avail of benefits meant for STs, including reservation.
Established Procedure:
  • A State or Union Territory’s government or administration requests the inclusion or exclusion of a specific community from the SC or ST list at the initial stage of the procedure.
  • The President’s office has the ultimate say by issuing a notification outlining the modifications in accordance with the authority granted to it under Articles 341 and 342.
  • Only after the President gives his or her approval to a Bill that modifies the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 and the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950, and it has been approved by both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, will any community be included or excluded from the list of Scheduled Tribes or Scheduled Castes.
  • Depending on its discretion, a State government may decide to suggest particular communities be added to or removed from the list of SCs/STs.
  • This advice might be based on research it commissions, as in the classification of the Hatti community in Himachal Pradesh.
  • The concerned State government then sends the proposal to include or exclude any community from the Scheduled List to the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
  • The suggestion is then examined by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs through internal deliberation before being forwarded to the Registrar General of India (RGI).
  • Once approved by the RGI, the proposal is sent to the National Commission for Scheduled Castes or National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, following which the proposal is sent back to the Union government, which after inter-ministerial deliberations, introduces it in the Cabinet for final approval.

    Source The Hindu

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