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IMPHAL, June 23: The Scheduled Tribe Demand Committee, Manipur, Uripok Cheirap Maning has said in a press release that whether a community is a ST or not is determined by the location where the community resides and the status of the community as a ST community is determined by its topography.
It continued that it is cited in the first line of the introduction of the report of Indian Government Indian Forest, 2011 that Manipur is a hilly state.
Among the states of India, Himachal Pradesh, Tripura and Uttarkhand are hilly states and the government of India has declared all the communities of the hilly states as tribals, it informed while adding that the order was declared by the President of India in 1950.
As per the order, communities are declared as ST, SC or OBC and even the Brahmans and Rajputs in the hilly states are declared as tribals, it said.
Stating that all inhabitants of Manipur residing in the state from before 1950 and all their descendants should have been declared as tribal but for certain reasons, such inhabitants have not been declared so, it noted that as a result, the inhabitants cannot avail of all benefits and facilities provided for ST.
Elaborating further, it claimed that the Equality of status and of opportunity to all citizens as stated in the Preamble of the Constitution of India has not been enforced.
It said that it is well known that the Preamble of the Constitution is considered to be the preface of the constitution.
It went on to say that against this backdrop, it can be questioned whether Meiteis/Meeteis are not treated by the Constitution equally as Meiteis/Meeteis are characterised by the hilly state and the criteria for inclusion in the list of tribes of the government of India and it is cited in the letter written by IK Barthakur, Padmashree and Padmabushan awardee, Member Secretary of North Eastern Council on May 3, 2013 that the Governor of Manipur fully supported it.
NEC strongly recommended it by appealing to the government of India to fulfil the demand for inclusion in the ST list and it will be approved very soon, it informed.
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