GUWAHATI
The Coordination Committee of Tribal Organizations of Assam (CCTOA) has rejected the Group of Ministers’ “illegal and unconstitutional” recommendations to grant Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to six communities.
The committee represents 14 tribes of Assam. The six communities recommended for status by the three-member group of ministers are Chutia, Koch-rajbongshi, Matak, Moran, Tai ahom and “Tea Tribes” (Adivasis).
Also Read: Assam tribal body petitions President against ST status for six communities
In its report submitted to the 126-member Assam Assembly in November 2025, the group of ministers suggested dividing the six communities into three categories – ST (Plain), ST (Hill) and ST (Valley).
The CCTOA advisory group, chaired by New Delhi-based rights activist Suhas Chakma, said on Friday that the recommendations, apart from being illegal and unconstitutional, will “affect and destroy the political rights” of existing tribals at all levels from panchayats to the Lok Sabha.
The CCTOA pointed out that while Scheduled Castes are identified on the basis of their position in the Hindu caste system, STs are identified on the basis of tribal characteristics – indications of primitive features, distinctive culture, geographical isolation, shyness in contact with the community in general and backwardness of the community as mentioned in the 1965 Lokur Committee Report.
The umbrella tribal body said that in 1993 the Assam Tribal and Scheduled Caste Research Institute recommended the Other Backward Class label for six communities and the National Commission for Backward Classes notified them as Other Backward Castes.
“Once a community is identified as SC, it cannot be politically reclassified as STs by the same government,” CCTOA leader Sukumar Basumatary said, referring to the August 1947 Joint Report on Excluded and Partially Excluded Areas (other than Assam) and North-East Frontier (Assam), which recommended Tribal and Sub-Community report as Lodkurtte Sub-Com group. against ST status for tea plantation workers.
“Koch-Rajbongshis are two different and distinct communities. In the erstwhile Goalpara district, Koch means those ‘Khotri’ Hindu Bengalis who migrated to Goalpara district from Rongpur district in East Pakistan, while Rajbongshi means the indigenous people of Assam who were subsumed into the broader Koch identity,” CCTOA said.
“The Group of Ministers did not note this difference between the two communities. According to the Scheduled Caste Ordinance, 1950, the Kochs were identified as a Scheduled Caste in West Bengal. Once identified as a Scheduled Caste in West Bengal, the Kochs cannot be classified as a Scheduled Tribe in Assam,” the organization said.
He noted that four communities—Chutiyas, Mataks, Morans and Tai Ahoms—are part of the mainstream Assamese people and that neither the 1947 report nor the 1965 Lokur Committee included them as STs, thereby denying their claim to classification as tribes.
The CCTOA further stated that the Government of Assam had recommended ST status for all 74 communities grouped under “Tea Tribes”, even though the Ethnographic Expert Committee on Tea and Ex-Tea Garden Tribes had recommended SC status for 38 of these communities. “The Government of Assam, the Department of Tribal Affairs, the Chief Secretary of India or the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes have no power to recommend against the findings of the expert committees,” it said.
“Political Reservation Tracking”
“The demand of these six communities to be considered as STs is only to ensure their political reservation, especially at the level of panchayat, autonomous council, autonomous district council and state assembly, as there are no seats reserved for OBCs in the state assembly,” CCTOA said.
“Otherwise, the rights and benefits of these six communities in terms of access to education and employment are already ensured through 27% reservation as OBCs at the state level and establishment of several autonomous and development councils for each of these communities,” he said.
“Granting ST status will destroy the political reservation of existing STs, besides affecting reservation from the central government fund. The recommendation for reservation of parliamentary seats (Kokrajhar and Diphu) will not justify destroying reservation for existing STs from panchayat to parliamentary levels,” CCTOA coordinator Tilak Doley said.
“The extent of reservation in Assam is already unconstitutional under a 1992 Supreme Court judgment which states that reservation cannot exceed 50%. The Government of Assam provides 59% reservation (SC 7%, ST(P) 10%, ST(H) 5%, OBC/MOBC (including ‘Tea Tribes’ 3%), 3 5 EWS and 27%). Ex-Tea Garden Communities which are not yet included in the ST list, the reservation may exceed 70%, which is absolutely unconstitutional,” CCTOA said.
“Since reservation is based on proportional population, the existing STs will suffer once these six communities are listed as STs. This is against the recommendation of the all-party delegation of the Assam Assembly that granting ST status to six communities must not affect the rights of the existing STs,” CCTOA leader Motilal Rabha said.
Published – 02 Jan 2026 20:33 IST
