GUWAHATI, April 22 - The Coordination Committee of the Tribal Organisations of Assam has demanded a tripartite discussion involving the Union government, the State government and the Coordination Committee on the issue of according Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to six ethnic groups of the State.
In a memorandum to Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal here on Friday, the Coordination Committee alleged that there is a conspiracy to marginalise the existing tribal groups by according ST status to these ethnic groups, who are much more advanced in socio-economic matters.
The bid to accord ST status to these ethnic groups is undertaken with a political design and with a view to according ST status to these groups, a tripartite meeting is being held on April 24 in New Delhi involving the Union government, the State government and these ethnic groups, despite the fact that these groups do not fulfil the criteria required to be recognised as STs, alleged the Coordination Committee.
In a statement here last night the Coordination Committee alleged that its representatives were not able to meet the Chief Minister despite persistent efforts for the past two days, to hand over the memorandum on the issue directly to him. It warned that in case the government fails to hold the tripartite meeting with it at the earliest, it would be compelled to resort to the path of agitation.
