On proposal to delist Kukis from ST list, Centre seeks Manipur govt's reply

The Centre on Tuesday asked the Manipur government to evaluate the representation to delist Kukis from the list of scheduled tribes of the state.

Imphal-based Maheshwar Thounaojam, national secretary of Republican Party of India (Athawale), had filed a representation asking for delisting Kuki-Zo tribals from list of SC/ST.

According to letter shared by Thounaojam, the letter has been forwarded by ministry of tribal affairs to the state government as its view is needed.

“In this regard it is to state that Scheduled Tribes are notified under Article 342 of the Constitution. Government of India had on 15.6.1999 (and further revised on 25.6.2002 and 14.9.2022) approved modalities for determining claims for inclusion in and other modifications in the list of STs,” the letter stated.

"Only proposals recommended and justified by the State government concerned and agreed to by the RGI as well as NCST are considered for amendment of legislaton," the tribal affairs ministry's letter stated.

In a Facebook post, Thounaojam said,"Today I got the reply to my letter submitted to the Union Minister of Tribal Affairs regarding deletion of the Nomadic Chin Kuki from the list of Schedule Tribe of Manipur, the Ministry said that modifications related to ST list must be recommended and justified by the State Government and later should be recommended by the Registrar General of India (RGI) as well as National Commission for Schedule Tribe(NCST)."

Manipur has been battling ethnic violence since May 3 last year when a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the majority Meitei community's demand for ST status. More than 180 people have been killed and several hundreds injured in it.