Months after the Hattee community of Himachal Pradesh’s Trans-Giri area was included in the Scheduled Tribes list of the State, there is confusion in the Tribal Development Department about who the “Hattees” actually are and whether people already classified as Scheduled Castes should be included as members of this community.
The Tribal Development Department has now written to the Tribal Affairs Ministry in Delhi, seeking clarification on this point. It noted that while the Bill introduced in Parliament excluded Scheduled Castes, the entry added to the ST list just says “Hattee of Trans-Giri area of Sirmour District”.
The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government had last year pushed hard for the inclusion of the Hattees in the ST list, announcing the decision months before the State went to the polls. The Congress, however, came to power in the State. Of the five seats in Sirmour district, the BJP had lost three. The Presidential assent for the addition was granted in August.
