To study removal of Kuki-Zo from ST, Manipur govt forms task force

Imphal: The Manipur government has constituted a task force comprising all the Scheduled Tribes of the state for a recommendation, which is necessary to add or remove a tribe from the Scheduled Tribes (ST) list of India.
The recommendation was necessitated after the Center asked the Manipur government to examine a request to delete “Nomadic Chin-Kuki” from the list of Scheduled Tribes (STs) in Manipur.
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Tuesday (Jan 09) said that he (Gypsy Chin-Kuki) was included in India’s ST list, but how he was included (in the list) was again Must review. Any comments/suggestions in this regard.
“We have formed a committee comprising all the recognized tribes in the state, only then we will be able to send a recommendation to the Centre,” the Manipur chief minister said in response to a question posed by a reporter.
Manipur has 34 tribes recognized by the government.

The union tribal affairs ministry has taken the measures in reply to a representation seeking to delist the “nomadic Chin-Kuki” from the ST list that was made by Maheshwar Thounaojam, national secretary of the Republican Party of India (Athawale), who is based in Imphal.

In a letter dated December 26, 2023, sent to the union government, Thounaojam claimed that the addition of a few entries in Manipur’s ST list over the years — such as “Any Mizo (Lushai) tribes”, “Zou”, and “Any Kuki tribes” — is objectionable.

Since then the union government in an office memorandum to Manipur said the process of inclusion or exclusion from the ST list requires the proposal to originate from the concerned state government.

Hence, it was sending the representation to the Manipur government for its recommendation.