• UGI USER
  • Dec 22, 2022
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Panda Task Force – for inclusion of ST List

Why in the News?

Although opposition MPs have recently questioned the government about the list of communities that were already recommended for inclusion on a priority basis more than eight years ago by a government task force, the inclusion of various communities in the Scheduled Tribes lists has been discussed in the Parliament (Panda Task Force).

About Panda Task Force

  • It was established in February 2014 under the direction of Hrusikesh Panda, the former Tribal Affairs Secretary.
  • It had developed a thorough list of more than 40 communities from all throughout the nation that it believed should be prioritised for inclusion in ST listings.
  • Nine of such communities are in the Indian states of Odisha, 26 are Assamese tea tribes, eight are in Chhattisgarh, and a handful are in the southern states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Recommendations

  • According to the task force’s recommendations, the ST list should include up to 26 Assamese tea tribes who were forcibly abducted as indentured labourers from regions like Bihar, Jharkhand, and Odisha.
  • This was supported by the fundamental tenet that “indentured labourers” are a separate category from “voluntary migration,” according to the statement.
  • Following the same logic, it had also suggested that tribal groups from Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh who had been uprooted because of the Narmada Dam Project be included because this qualified as “involuntary migration” as well.
  • It also had recommended the inclusion of various Devnagri versions of tribes in the ST list of Chhattisgarh