Parliament Winter Session: The Rajya Sabha on Tuesday introduced a bill to include the Gond community in some parts of Uttar Pradesh in the category of Scheduled Tribes. Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda introduced the Bill on the resumption of the Upper House at 2 pm after the lunch break offered the proposal. The Constitution (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) Order (Second Amendment) Bill, 2022 has been passed by the Lok Sabha in April this year.
The Bill seeks to amend the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) (Uttar Pradesh) Order, 1967 (ST Order) and the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 (SC Order) with respect to its application to Uttar Pradesh.
Congress supported, accused the government
It seeks to amend the Scheduled Caste order declaring the Gond community as a Scheduled Caste in four districts of Uttar Pradesh: Chandauli, Kushinagar, Sant Kabir Nagar, and Sant Ravidas Nagar. Pramod Tiwari of the Congress supported the bill. , but wondered why other communities were kept out of the purview of the proposed law. He alleged that whenever a BJP-led government comes to power at the Centre, atrocities against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes increase in the country.
Trinamool Congress also supported, raised questions
Shantanu Sen of Trinamool Congress said, "I support this bill, but I oppose the symbolism being done by this government in the name of welfare of SC and ST." He suggested to the government that "Instead of shedding crocodile tears for SCs and STs, actually try to think positively for the betterment of the backward communities of the country." Sen said the government should have taken comprehensive measures to include some other communities in individual states instead of bringing out separate bills.
Opposition supported, gave suggestion to the government
Opposition members in the House cutting across party lines supported the proposed law but called for inclusion of more communities in the categories of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Niranjan Bishi of BJD, Subhash Chandra Bose Pilli of YSRCP and V Sivadasan of CPI(M) supported the bill.
