Centre receives Assam govt proposal seeking ST status for six communities

NEW DELHI, Jan 30: The Centre on Thursday said that the proposal for granting Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to six communities of Assam has been received from the State government.

“The proposal for inclusion of Tai Ahom, Chutia, Matak, Moran, Koch-Rajbongshi and Tea Tribes has been received from the State government of Assam,” Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Durgadas Uikey said in the Lok Sabha.

Stating that proposals for inclusion in the list of Scheduled Tribes of a State or Union Territory follow certain processes as per the modalities, Uikey said, “This is a continuous process. The proposals are examined by the office of the Registrar General of India (RGI) and then by the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST).

“In case the proposal is not recommended by the RGI, the State governments are communicated the points raised by the RGI, so that additional information, if any, may be furnished by the government.”

The minister said that many such proposals may therefore remain under examination at different levels.

The Government of India has laid down the modalities for deciding the claims for inclusion in, exclusion from and other modifications in orders specifying SC and ST lists,” he said in reply to an unstarred question raised by Congress MP Rakibul Hussain.

As per these modalities, Uikey said that proposals are required to be recommended and duly justified along with an ethnographic report by the State governments and Union Territory administrations concerned.

In November 2025, the Assam Cabinet had approved the report of a Group of Ministers (GoM) recommending ST status for six major communities. However, a Coordination Committee of Tribal Organisations of Assam (CCTOA) has rejected the GoM proposal to grant ST status to the six communities, acting on the recommendation of a consultative group.

By

A Correspondent