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.
