Assam: Six communities’ ST panel report a ‘poll plank', says Lurinjyoti Gogoi

Dibrugarh: Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) president Lurinjyoti Gogoi on Monday alleged that the report submitted by the ministerial panel on granting Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to Assam’s six communities is nothing but an “electoral lollipop” by the BJP government.

Addressing a press conference here, Gogoi launched a scathing attack on Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, accusing the government of misleading the people of Assam on the issue of tribal recognition.

Gogoi said the ministerial committee set up by the Assam government submitted its report on November 29 during the Winter Session of the Assam Legislative Assembly.

Soon after, the government announced that it had “cleared” the path to grant ST status to the six communities and would complete the process shortly.

However, Gogoi termed these claims “baseless and unrealistic”, asserting that the BJP was attempting to gain political mileage ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections.

“The statement made by the Chief Minister in the Assembly is far from the truth. Instead of fulfilling the longstanding demand, the government is using the issue as a tool to deceive the people,” Gogoi alleged.

Gogoi explained the constitutional mechanism for granting ST status and said Article 342 of the Constitution governs the process. The State government must first examine any demand for tribal recognition and then send its recommendation to the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) then evaluates the ethnographic and socio-cultural parameters as per the criteria set by the B.N. Lokur Committee of 1965.

After that, the Registrar General of India (RGI) verifies the proposal and then forwards it to the Union Cabinet, which introduces it in Parliament for approval by both Houses.

Gogoi questioned whether the Assam government had followed these established procedures in the case of the six communities.

The demand for ST status for the six communities—Koch-Rajbongshi, Tai-Ahom, Chutia, Moran, Matak and Tea Tribes—dates back decades.

Recalling past developments, Gogoi referred to the 2007 incident when a woman protester, Lakhimi Orang, was stripped during a demonstration demanding ST status—an incident that brought shame and outrage across Assam. The first formal proposal, however, dates back to 1960, when the Koch-Rajbongshi community raised the demand.

Former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi had also pressed for the inclusion, raising the matter in the Assam Legislative Assembly in 2015 and submitting a memorandum to the Prime Minister the same year.

The BJP, in its Vision Document 2016–25, promised to grant ST status to the six communities within the specified period. Prior to the 2016 Assembly polls, the Centre formed the Mahesh Kumar Singla Committee to finalise modalities for the process. The Union Cabinet approved the proposal on November 8, 2018.

In November 2019, the Central government introduced The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2019, in the Rajya Sabha to include the six communities in the ST list of Assam. “But the Bill has been lying untouched in the Upper House for nearly six years,” Gogoi pointed out.

Gogoi questioned the rationale behind forming a new ministerial panel and tabling a fresh report in the Assembly when the Constitution Amendment Bill is already pending in Parliament.

“When the BJP-led NDA enjoys a full majority in both Houses, why has the government not passed the Bill? Why go back to square one by appointing another ministerial committee? The answer is simple: the BJP lacks sincerity and is attempting to misguide the people ahead of the elections,” he alleged.

He added that Parliament must pass the Bill in both Houses and the President must give assent, after which the government will publish the notification in the Gazette of India.

Calling the panel report a “political gimmick”, Gogoi accused the BJP government of creating an illusion of progress just before the elections.

“Had the government been genuinely committed, they would have pushed for the Bill’s passage instead of resorting to theatrics,” he said.