Context: Cabinet approves addition of four tribes in Himachal, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh to ST list.
What are the tribes added to the Scheduled Tribes list?
The Hatti tribe in the Trans-Giri area of Sirmour district in Himachal Pradesh.
The Narikoravan and Kurivikkaran hill tribes of Tamil Nadu.
The Binjhia in Chhattisgarh, who were listed as ST in Jharkhand and Odisha but not in Chhattisgarh, were the communities newly added to the list.
‘Betta-Kuruba’ as a synonym for the Kadu Kuruba tribe In Karnataka.
In Chhattisgarh, the Cabinet approved synonyms for tribes like the Bharia (variations added include Bhumia and Bhuyian), Gadhwa (Gadwa), Dhanwar (Dhanawar, Dhanuwar), Nagesia (Nagasia, Kisan), and Pondh (Pond), among others.
Process to include tribes in the ST list:
It will start with the recommendation from the respective State governments, which are then sent to the Tribal Affairs Ministry, which reviews and sends them to the Registrar General of India for approval.
This is followed by the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes’ approval before the list is sent to the Cabinet for a final decision.
Note: The Cabinet approved a proposal to bring the Gond community residing in 13 districts of Uttar Pradesh, under the ST list from the Scheduled Caste list. This includes the five subcategories of the Gond community (Dhuria, Nayak, Ojha, Pathari, and Rajgond).
