BJD MPs Demand Centre for Consideration of 160 Pending Proposals for Inclusion in ST List of Odisha

New Delhi: The Biju Janata Dal MPs on Tuesday met Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda for consideration of more than 160 proposals pending with the Ministry recommended by the State Government for inclusion in the ST List of Odisha.

Odisha is the state which is home to the largest number of Particularly Vulnerable Group Tribals (PVTGs) and has a large tribal population. Led by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, the Odisha Government her been undertaking various developmental programmes for their development including establishment of Special Development Councils (SDCs) in, nine tribal dominated districts namely Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar, Sundargarh, Kandhamal, Gajapati, Koraput, Rayagada, Nabarangpur and Malkangiri covering 117 blocks, 2022 GPs, 18687 villages and 14.05 lakh ST households, the BJD MPs informed the Union Minister.

There are several communities who have been recommended by the Government of Odisha for inclusion in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) List of Odisha, but have not been included in the ST List yet after many decades and these proposals are pending before the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, the BJD delegation said.

On September 16 this year, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had requested to consider more than 160 proposals recommended by the ,Odisha Government for inclusion in the .Scheduled Tribes (St) list of Odisha which are pending with the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

In. this regard, a Task Force under Ministry of Tribal Affairs had also recommended 9 proposals from Odisha as priority cases for inclusion in the ST List for Odisha in the year 2014. But the same is yet to be notified in the President Order, the BJD said.