As the standoff between agitating Gujjars and the Vasundhara Raje government continues, the Centre on Sunday passed the buck to the Rajasthan government saying the state was competent enough to declare the community nomadic or de-notified tribe.
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Dismissing Raje's suggestion of amending the Constitution for granting the Gujjars nomadic or de-notified tribe status, Tribal Affairs Minister P R Kyndiah said some states have already enacted legislation in the regard.
"We have no role to play. Article 16 of the Constitution enables the states to make provisions for reservation to nomadic or de-notified tribes other than the Schedules Castes, Scheduled Tribes and OBCs, if the situation demands," he told PTI in New Delhi.
Kyndiah's ministry was keenly involved with Law and Home Ministries to formulate a reply to Raje's May 26 letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who had directed Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil to look into the matter.
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Citing the example of Maharashtra government, which had already implemented four per cent quota for the nomadic or de-notified tribes, Kyndiah said no Constitutional amendment for this purpose was necessary or feasible as any such move would, inter alia, upset the delicate Constitutional balance.
He said if the Vasundhara Raje government really wants to grant ST status to any community, it has to send a proposal incorporating all required criteria and with a comment justifying the move.
"Unless the criteria are fulfilled, any proposal from any state government has no meaning," he said.
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The criteria are primitive traits, distinctive culture, shyness of contact with the community at large, geographical isolation and backwardness (social and economic).
Kyndiah already had conveyed to Raje the Centre's stand on the issue of granting any community nomadic or de-notified tribe status.
On the issue relating to the criteria for scheduling or de-scheduling of tribes and sub-categorisation of the existing communities, Kyndiah said the government would look into the matter while finalising the National Tribal Policy.
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Sources said if the Rajasthan government sends the proposal on granting ST status to Gujjars, it will be sent to the Registrar General of India.
The RGI, if satisfied with the recommendation of the state government, refers the proposal to the Central government. Thereafter, the government refers the proposal to the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes for its recommendation.
If the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes also recommends the case, the matter is processed for the decision of the Cabinet, they said.
Thereafter, the matter is put up before the Parliament in the form of a Bill to amend the Presidential Order.
However, cases for inclusion or exclusion which the state government or the RGI or National Commission for ST does not support are rejected. The Gujjar agitation over the issue has claimed at least 40 lives in Rajasthan.
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