Port Blair, May 04: Mr. Saurav Nair, Social worker raised the demand for the inclusion of Chota Nagpur tribals (Ranchi Community) of A&N Islands in the scheduled tribe (ST) list of the Indian constitution under Article 342(1).
In a letter addressed to the Minister of Tribal Affairs, Mr. Nairsaid that the members of the Ranchi community are pressing the centralgovernment to include it in the ST list for decades by submitting manyrepresentations to the Prime Minister, Union Home Minister, Union Minister of Tribal Affairs and others. However, no concrete response was received from the Central Government till date.
He stressed the need for a constitutional safeguard of the Ranchi community by giving the scheduled tribe status, as they have in their native place in Jharkhand.
He added that the Schedule Tribes of Chota Nagpur had settled in A&N Islands during the British period of Penal Settlement for the developmental activities. But due to the absence of constitutional notification of recognition in the A&N Islands, the ChotaNagpuri tribal have lost the original status of their home state.
Hence, Mr. Nair requested the Minister of Tribal Affairs to explore possibilities for providing ST Status to Chota Nagpur Tribals (Ranchi Community) settled in A&N Islands.