FULL TRANSCRIPT

I would like to draw the kind attention of this august House to the matter that the West Bengal Government vide their letter dated February 28, 2014 had recommended granting of schedule tribe status to 11 communities living in Sikkim, Darjeeling and other Gorkha-dominated areas.

In consequence to this proposal of West Bengal, the Central Government had constituted a committee to examine and recommend the granting of schedule tribe status to those 11 communities. However, several years have rolled by since.

The West Bengal Government has recommended these 11 communities because they fulfil the criteria of having primitive traits, distinctive culture, geographical isolation, shyness of contact with communities at large and extreme backwardness.

There is an urgent need to bring the highly deprived communities into the mainstream. There has already been a huge delay since the West Bengal Government submitted its recommendation way back in 2014.

Sir, its my humble request to the august House to seek a detailed explanation on the delay and set up a definite timeframe within which the Central Government would approve the State Government’s recommendations and grant these 11 communities scheduled tribe status and help create equal opportunities for all, which is the constitutional right of every Indian.

Thank you, Sir.