New Delhi, Dec 18: In a bid to remove anomalies in lists of scheduled castes and tribes, Lok Sabha today passed a bill seeking to modify the lists for 120 communities in 20 states with government promising to further streamline them with the consent of states and others concerned.
Winding up a discussion on the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Orders (Second Amendment) Bill, 2002, Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram said of the 981 cases needing modifications in the SC-ST lists, 502 are pending with various state governments for their opinion.
As soon as states' approval is obtained, cases would be referred to registrar general and SC and ST commission before cabinet clearance, he said.
On members' concern over non-inclusion of "Konch Rajvanshi" of Assam in ST list, Oram said the required clearance from Registrar General was received only eight days back and now it would be placed before cabinet for approval.
The Bill, passed by a voice vote, seeks to remove anomalies by inclusion of certain tribes or tribal communities, remove area restrictions and bifurcates or club certain entries.
It also seeks to impose area restrictions in respect of certain castes in the lists of SCs and exclude certain castes and tribes from the lists.
The states where such modifications are sought to be effected are Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Goa, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Mizoram, Orissa, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Bureau Report