Soren urges Assam CM to grant ST status to tea tribes

Guwahati: In what is said to be a political move to counter Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s aggressive campaign, Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren on Thursday urged his counterpart in Assam to grant Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the tea tribes in his state.

In a letter to the Assam chief minister, Mr Soren who also heads the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) said that the tea tribes deserve Scheduled Tribe status, while regretting that despite their significant contributions to Assam's economy, the community has remained marginalised in Assam.

Mr Sarma, who is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s co-in charge in poll-bound Jharkhand, has been attacking the Soren-led Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-Congress-Rashtriya Janata Dal alliance government over issues such as alleged reduction in tribal population and demographic change allegedly due to Bangladeshi infiltration.

Mr Soren expressed concern that approximately seven million members of the tea tribes community, which is currently classified as Other Backward Class (OBC) in Assam have not been granted the ST status.

He flagged the challenges faced by them, many of whom, including the Santhali, Kuruk, Munda, and Oraon, trace their roots back to Jharkhand. Mr Soren noted that their ancestors migrated to Assam during colonial rule to work in tea plantations.

The Jharkhand chief minister asserted that the tea tribes meet all the criteria for ST status, citing their distinct cultural identity, traditional way of life, and vulnerability to exploitation.

He pointed out that while these tea workers communities are recognised as STs in states like Jharkhand, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, and Odisha, Assam continues to classify them as OBCs.

It is significant that the long pending demand for ST status for the tea tribes has gained momentum in the state recently, with the community joining forces with five other ethnic groups to stage demonstrations in Delhi.

Bogged down by the Centre's delay in fulfilling their demands, members of the six communities—Adivasi/Tea Tribes, Tai Ahom, Moran, Matak, Chutia, and Koch-Rajbongshi—staged a protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.

During the protest, community members submitted three memorandums to the Ministry of Home Affairs, directed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, reiterating their demand for ST status.

In 2019, the Scheduled Tribes Amendment Bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha, which clearly outlined the granting of ST status to these communities. However, the bill has yet to be passed into law, leaving the tea tribes in a state of uncertainty regarding their status.