DARJEELING,: Darjeeling MP Raju Bista on Tuesday welcomed the step taken by the Sikkim government in constituting a high-level committee of experts to work on the demand of inclusion of the left-out Gorkha communities in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) list.
The Sikkim State High Level Committee was notified on November 4 with the mandate to prepare a comprehensive ethnographic report and justify why the left-out communities qualify for the tribal status.
In a press statement, the Darjeeling MP said: “I am deeply appreciative of the initiative taken by the Government of Sikkim to constitute a High Level Committee of experts to work on the modalities for the re-inclusion of the left-out Gorkha sub-tribes from Sikkim, as Scheduled Tribes under the Constitution of India. I extend my heartfelt gratitude to Chief Minister P.S Golay for taking proactive steps towards this.”
“Darjeeling and Sikkim are working closely on this issue, and regular meetings are being conducted for ensuring better coordination. I am confident that together we will be able to ensure justice for the left-out Gorkha sub-tribes,” added Bista who is also the BJP national spokesperson.
The BJP time and again has promised tribal status for the left-out Gorkha communities in the past MP elections held here with the demand yet to be fulfilled. There are 11 communities demanding tribal status in Darjeeling and 12 in Sikkim.
On October 6 this year, a joint committee comprising representatives of Sikkim and Darjeeling had also been formed under the initiative of the Sikkim CM and the Darjeeling MP for this demand with a meeting held in Siliguri.