The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved a Constitution amendment bill on September 14 that seeks to grant tribal status to the Hatti community living in Himachal Pradesh’s Sirmaur district’s Trans-Giri region.
Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda told that the Cabinet has also approved proposals to grant Scheduled Tribes status to the Binjhia community in Chhattisgarh, as well as the Narikoravan and Kurivikkaran communities in Tamil Nadu.
Benefits for the Hatti community
After the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Third Amendment) Bill 2022 becomes an act, approximately 1.6 lakh members of the Hatti community in the Trans-Giri region will be eligible for ST benefits under existing government schemes.
According to government policy, they will also be entitled to benefits such as service reservation and admission to educational institutions.
Anurag Thakur, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister, told after the Cabinet meeting that people from the Himachal Pradesh community had been requesting inclusion on the ST list for more than 50 years.
He said the Hatti community in the Jaunsar region of Uttrakhand had already been given tribal status.
“The Trans-Giri region of Sirmaur shares the border with Jaunsar, and the two have a cultural similarity. It is a historic decision. I thank PM Modi for this,” Mr. Thakur said.
Mr. Munda stated that the Binjhia community’s demand for inclusion in Chhattisgarh’s ST list had been pending for approximately 15 years.
The Cabinet has also approved a Constitutional amendment bill that would include the Narikoravan and Kurivikkaran communities of Tamil Nadu’s hills on the state’s ST list.
In Karnataka, the Betta-Kuruba community has been approved as a synonym for “Kadu Kuruba.”
