Tribal Card Ahead Of 2024! Odisha CM Seeks Inclusion Of Over 160 Communities In ST List

Bhubaneswar: In a bid to woo the tribal population ahead of the 2024 elections, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday urged the Centre to consider over 160 proposals from Odisha for the inclusion of several communities in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) list.

In a letter to Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda, the Chief Minister said the state government has recommended more than 160 communities of Odisha to the Centre for their inclusion in the ST list of the state with the approval of Tribal Advisory Council since 1978.

Among these some are new entities, while some others are sub tribes/subsets, synonyms and phonetic variations of the existing ST communities residing in different parts of the state who are being deprived of the benefits availed by STs though they have the same tribal characteristics as their respective notified STs, Naveen said.

“I am given to understand that a Task Force under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs had recommended 9 proposals from Odisha as priority cases for inclusion in the ST list of the state in the year 2014, but the same is yet to be notified in the Presidential Order,” the Chief Minister said.

“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 provisions of the Constitution of India,” he said in the letter copy of which was released to the media.

Naveen said this will go a long way in helping these deprived communities by giving them their much-needed recognition as STs and ensuring social justice. He further pointed out that since 2011 a number of communications have been made by him with the Central Government on this sensitive matter.

“I would like to bring the above matter for your kind perusal and urge for urgent action addressing the long-standing pending matter and do justice to the communities who are waiting for decades to get their due grievances redressed,” the Chief Minister added.

Naveen’s letter is seen as a significant move to garner the support of a large number of tribals ahead of the Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections due in 2024.