Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday urged the Centre to consider the inclusion of more than 160 communities of the State in the Scheduled Tribes list.
In a letter addressed to Arjun Munda, Union Tribal Affairs Minister, Mr. Patnaik said, “Since 1978 onwards, Odisha government has recommended more than 160 communities of the State to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs for their inclusion in the ST list of the State with approval of Tribes Advisory Council.”
“Among these some are new entries. Some others are sub tribes or subsets, synonyms and phonetic variations of the existing ST communities residing in different parts of the State who are being deprived of the benefits availed by STs though they have the same tribal characteristics as their respective notified STs,” he elaborated.
