GUWAHATI, Oct 9 - The Group of Ministers (GoM) formed by the State government today held a daylong discussion with leaders of the six ethnic communities which have been demanding Scheduled Tribe (ST) status for years.
The meeting � stated to be the final such meeting on the issue � resolved a number of contentious issues.
The GoM will submit its final report to the Centre by October 30.
Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who heads the GoM, told media-persons after the meet that the State government is hopeful of a lasting solution to the vexed issue as �60 per cent of the issues have been resolved�.
�It was a fruitful discussion and we are confident that a lasting solution will emerge out of it. Many issues have been resolved and this will have a significant bearing on the final outcome. Our mandate was to submit the final report to the Centre which we will do on or before October 30,� Sarma said.
Stating that the representatives of the six communities � Koch-Rajbongshi, Tai-Ahom, Moran, Muttock, Chutiya and some tea-tribe communities � made clear their stands during the meet, Sarma said that there would be no more formal discussions on the issue and that the Centre would act on the basis of the final GoM report.
�Of course there can be informal parleys over some issues but we have discharged our responsibility and if the Centre is satisfied with our report, it can take a decision immediately. If it wants to have further legal opinion on our recommendations, it would do that,� he said.
Sarma also sought not to link the issue with the forthcoming polls and said that it would be wrong to treat it as a political matter. �This has nothing to do with politics, as it is an apolitical matter. A lasting solution will be a boon for the State,� he said.
The State government had in January 2019 formed the GoM to recommend measures for protection of rights of existing tribal communities as well as to decide on the benefits to be given to new Scheduled Tribes.
The GoM was formed on the direction of the Centre following introduction of the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) in Rajya Sabha.
