By IANS,
New Delhi : A bill to amend the list of Scheduled Tribes was taken up by the Rajya Sabha Thursday, to add more tribes from northeastern India to it.
The upper house skipped Question Hour, as is the practice on extended days of a session, and took up the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2011 to amend the list of tribes in Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.
The bill includes six more tribes from Manipur. These are Inpui, Liangmai, Rongmei, Thangal, Zeme and Mate.
It substitutes “Galo” in place of “Galong” in the list of Scheduled Tribes in Arunachal Pradesh.
The bill was passed by the Lok Sabha last week.
In a brief debate on the bill, several members suggested preparation of a list across the nation to include new tribes.
Tribal Affairs Minister V. Kishore Chandra Deo, however, said it was the responsibility of state governments to send such lists to the centre.
“States have to send recommendations (for inclusion of new tribes in the list). If we wait for all states to send it and prepare the list at once, it will be an endless process, (and) it will not be practical,” he said.