BHUBANESWAR: Naveen Patnaik, the chief minister of Odisha, wrote to Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda on Saturday seeking inclusion of  160 communities to the state's Schedule Tribe list.

Patnaik said, the Odisha government has nominated more than 160 groups for inclusion on the state's ST list to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs since 1978 with the approval of the Tribes Advisory Council. He said, some of these are brand-new additions, while others are phonetic variations, subtribes/subsets, synonyms, and existing ST groups found in various regions of the state.

The CM added that despite sharing similar tribal traits with the STs that were notified of them, these groups were not receiving the benefits enjoyed by STs.

He also noted that in 2014, the task team under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs had identified nine petitions from Odisha as priority cases for the state's ST list. The same has yet to be announced in the presidential order, Patnaik said.
All of the state's 160+ communities are suffering from historical injustice as a result of the delay in their placement on the ST list, he said. The Chief Minister also added that in the years 2011, 2012, and 2021, he had sent letters to the Union Tribal Ministers over this issue.

He asked Munda to investigate this long-standing issue and expedite the scheduling of these marginalised communities in order to provide social justice to them in compliance with Indian constitutional principles. This will go a long way in helping this deprived section of people by giving them their much-needed recognition as ST and ensure social justice, he added.

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