The Union Cabinet under the Leadership of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi declared the addition of four tribes to the SC list involving the tribes of Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh since the demand to include these communities has been pending for decades.
The tribes include the Hatti tribe in the Trans-Giri area of Sirmour district in Himachal Pradesh whereas the Narikoravan and Kurivikkaran hill tribes of Tamil Nadu, and the Binjhia tribe in Chhattisgarh, which was listed as ST in Jharkhand and Odisha but not in Chhattisgarh, were the communities added to the list.
The Gond Community which is residing in 13 areas of Uttar Pradesh has also been asked to be added to the list according to the proposal approved by the Cabinet. The five subcategories of the Gond community include- Dhuria, Nayak, Ojha, Pathari and Rajgond which will be added to the list.
A demand to add the Binjhia tribe to the SC list in Chhattisgarh had been pending for around 15 years. Similarly, the Hatti tribe had been seeking their inclusion for around 50 years as it had been on the ST list in Uttarakhand but not in Himachal Pradesh.