Govt committed to provide ST status to 6 Assam communities: Rijiju

“We are committed to grant ST status to six OBC communities in Assam. The central government has already set up a committee to examine the proposal and it is working on it,” he told reporters here. 

The committee, headed by Special Secretary (Internal Security) in the Home Ministry Mahesh Kumar Singla, is consulting Assam government and all other stake-holders and examining various issues for suggesting the modalities for the required reservations and shifting the existing reservation for these communities from OBC to ST. 

It will also protect the interests of existing tribals and frame a mechanism to ensure fairness of reservations within these six communities and related security considerations, a Home Ministry official said.

Rijiju had earlier said that granting of Scheduled Tribes status to the six communities —Moran, Muttock, Tai Ahom, Koch Rajbongshi, Sootea and Tea Tribes — was a political promise of the BJP and the NDA government.