RAJ KUMAR
Ranchi, Feb.10: The Bill omitting Bhogta community from the list of Scheduled Caste and adding it to the list of scheduled tribes with nine other communities of Jharkhand does not make labour minister of Jharkhand, Satyanand Bhogta, happy.
He shared his feeling saying he will knock on the door of the apex court after organising a series of agitation against it.
“This is a conspiracy with the Bhogta community which has the status of scheduled caste in Jharkhand. In 1908 survey, 1912 survey, 1936 gazette and in the constitution drafted under the leadership of Bhim Rao Ambedkar everywhere Bhogta is considered as a scheduled caste. The caste is found in Latehar, Simaria and Chatra. So far political parties have been giving representation to the community in the capacity of scheduled caste and it used to get tickets to contest elections in its area of influence in Latehar, Chatra and Simaria. Once it gets ST status, winning elections for the community will become difficult as ST is reserved and the community does not have dominance in ST reserved seats,” Bhokta, at present an RJD MLA with previous association with BJP and JVM, said.
Introducing the Bill in this regard in the Rajya Sabha, Union Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda had said a research paper was prepared for each community and the state and the Centre discussed the issue before bringing a bill in Parliament.
Other communities included in the list of ST are Deshwari, Ganjhu, Daulatvandi, Padbandi, Rout, Majhia, Khairi (Kheri). Apart from this, in the list of ST, Puran, Tamaria or Tamadia is also proposed.
The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order 1950 and the Constitution (Tribes) Order 1950 are to be amended through the bill. The recommendation to include the synonymous castes of the Kharwar community, Khairi or Kheri in the list of Scheduled Tribes of Jharkhand was made in the year 2014 itself.
The then chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes and the current Finance Minister of the state, Dr. Rameshwar Oraon and the then member of the commission, Bhairu Lal Meena, visited the villages of the state and recommended the inclusion of the synonymous castes of the Kharwar community in the Scheduled Tribes list.
The team of the commission had prepared a report after visiting Bansdiha, Cheiro, Kailakhad located in Hutap and Chater Panchayat of Chandwa block in Latehar district and studying the lifestyle of the local people. There is a uniqueness and a special culture. Kharwar and its sub-castes reside in different areas of the state.
Despite being geographically different, there is a similarity in their language, culture, religious rituals, legislation, social organization, political and educational status. This proves that all the suitable sub-castes are basically synonymous with the Kharwar community in the present environment. Their life is according to the conditions of the tribes of the state. In such a situation, they can be included in the list of Scheduled Tribes of the state. The Tribal Research Institute (Tribal Research Institute or TRI) of the state had recommended to list Tamadiya or Tamaria caste in the category of Scheduled Tribe Munda in the year 2002.
