Bhubaneswar: A delegation of BJD MPs on Tuesday met Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda and submitted a memorandum demanding inclusion of 160 proposals in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) list of Odisha.
The delegation, in the memorandum stated that the State government had recommended different communities for inclusion in the ST list several times. But, the proposals are still pending with the ministry.
The move come in the wake of a media report ‘which has inaccurately mentioned’ that Odisha has not made any proposal in this regard.
The parliamentary party team of BJD said that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had written to the ministry in September to include 160 proposals in the ST list. Patnaik had also raised the matter in various national forums and zonal meetings convened by the Centre, the MPs maintained.
Moreover, a task force under the Tribal Affairs Ministry had also recommended nine proposals which are still to be considered. CM Naven Patnaik had written to the previous ministers in several occasions to consider the recommendations, they said.
The regional party said that inclusion into the ST list would lead to significant empowerment and opportunities for the communities who have been deprived of ST status and government facilities for decades.
