Parliament Clears The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2024

Paving way for addition of new communities to the list of Scheduled Tribes for State of Andhra Pradesh, the Parliament on Thursday (February 8) cleared the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2024.

The said Bill seeks to amend the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950, based on recommendation of the State Government of Andhra Pradesh and after consultation with the Registrar General of India and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes.

As per stipulations, Entry 25 in the Schedule to Part I of the ST Order, 1950 (Andhra Pradesh) ie "Porja, Parangiperja" is sought to be substituted with "Porja, Bondo Porja, Khond Porja, Parangiperja". Further, Entry 28 ie "Savaras, Kapu Savaras, Maliya Savaras, Khutto Savaras" is to be replaced by "Savaras, Kapu Savaras, Maliya Savaras, Konda Savaras, Khutto Savaras".

Cumulatively, these changes will result in the addition of 3 Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) communities to the Scheduled List: Bondo Porja and Khond Porja as synonyms of the Porja Tribe and Konda Savaras as synonym of the Savaras Tribe.

First introduced in the Rajya Sabha by Minister of Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda, the Bill was passed by the Upper House on February 6, 2024 by voice vote. While it was being discussed, Indian National Congress MP L Hanumanthaiah notably said that over the past 5-10 years, amendments to Scheduled Castes (SC)/Scheduled Tribes (ST) lists are being made whenever elections are near, or when it suits the government. He asked why the government cannot instead look at the whole SC/ST list afresh and make it "inclusive" across the country.

Within a span of 3 days since, the Bill now stands cleared by the Lok Sabha as well.

Background

According to Article 342 of the Constitution, the first list of the Scheduled Tribes were notified during the year 1950 in respect of various States and Union territories vide the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950.

This list was modified from time to time, but with respect to Andhra Pradesh, the list of STs was last modified vide the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.

India has a total of 75 PVTGs, yet it is after 75 years of independence that the matter of inclusion of the abovementioned 3 PVTGs in Scheduled List has been taken up by the government.

The proposal is followed by launch of the PM PVTG Development Mission under Union Budget 2023-24 for providing access to basic facilities (such as education, health, clean drinking water, sanitation) to PVTGs. Significantly, in November, 2023, the Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan (PM-JANMAN) scheme was also launched to enhance PVTGs' socio-economic conditions.