New Delhi, Parliament has passed the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2021 with the Lok Sabha clearing it today amid din with voice vote. The Rajya Sabha has already approved it. The Bill seeks to amend the constitutional list of Scheduled Tribes as recommended by Arunachal Pradesh. It removes the Abor tribe from the list of identified STs in that state and also replaces certain STs with other tribes. Speaking on the bill, Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda said it will provide justice to tribals.
The House had a brief discussion over the bill. Intervening in the discussion, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju lauded the government for bringing this legislation. Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said his party supports the bill and demanded for a proper discussion on it. Sudip Bandyopadhyay of TMC, Supriya Sule of NCP, Ritesh Pandey of BSP and others also supported the Bill. N K Premachandran questioned the passage of bills in a hurry and without proper discussion.
