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The Indian Parliament today passed the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to amend the constitutional list of Scheduled Tribes as recommended by the state of Arunachal Pradesh.

The bill was introduced in the Upper House on August 2 by Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda which was passed on August 5 amidst  protest by the opposition.

Presently, there are 18 communities with their synonyms appearing in the illustrative list of Scheduled Tribes in respect of Arunachal Pradesh. The bill provides for the deletion of Abor tribe from Serial No. 1 as it is the same as Adi in serial no. 16. It also proposed to replace Tai Khamti instead of Khampti at serial no 6 in the list. Nocte, Tangsa, Tutsa and Wancho tribes were also included in the list under serial No. 10 of the list in lieu of any Naga tribes.

The Bill seeks to recognize Monpa, Sajolang(Miji), Sartang, Memba, Nocte, Tangsa, Tutsa, Wancho, Tai-Khampti, Mishmi-Kaman (Miju), Idu(Mishmi), Taraon(Digaru) Tribes under the Indian Constitution.

Key Highlights of the Bill:

The Bill provides for modifying Part-XVIII of the Schedule to the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950, relating to the state of Arunachal Pradesh.

 This amendment in the list of Scheduled Tribes, relating to the state of Arunachal Pradesh, will entail no additional recurring expenditure from the  Consolidated Fund of India  on account of benefits likely to be provided to persons belonging to the communities proposed in the Bill.

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs is funding the welfare of 10.45 crores of Scheduled Tribes population (Census, 2011).

Further, the Scheduled Tribes are also eligible for benefits under the Scheduled Tribes Component (STC) of schemes under the central government and state governments.

The basic objective of Schedule Tribe Component is to channelize/monitor the flow of outlays and benefits from the general sectors in the Central Ministries/Departments for the development of Scheduled Tribes at least in proportion to their population.

According to the 2001 Census, nearly 64.2% of the total population of Arunachal Pradesh is Scheduled Tribes (STs). The state has registered a decadal growth of 28.1% of ST population in 1991-2001 Census.