New Delhi: The Rajya Sabha passed a bill on Wednesday that would remove the Bhogta caste from the list of scheduled castes and add certain communities to Jharkhand’s Scheduled Tribes (ST) list. The news came just one day after the RS began debating the bill on Tuesday. On February 7, the bill was introduced in the Upper House.
Arjun Munda, the Minister of Tribal Affairs, introduced the Constitution (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2022, which also aims to help beneficiaries better utilize reservation provisions in education and government jobs.
The bill was set to be debated in the Upper House today. The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order of 1950 and the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order of 1950 are both amended by this bill.
The Scheduled Castes Order identifies castes, races, and tribes in various states and union territories as Scheduled Castes, while the Scheduled Tribes Order identifies tribes and tribal communities as Scheduled Tribes.
The bill modifies the Scheduled Tribes Order’s schedule to include the Deshwari, Ganjhu, Dautalbandi (Dwalbandi), Patbandi, Raut, Maajhia, Khairi (Kheri), Tamaria (Tamadia), and Puran communities in Jharkhand’s Scheduled Tribes list.