Process for including a community in ST list is long: Ajit Jogi

Nagpur, June 4 (UNI) The process for inclusion of a community in the list of Scheduled Tribes (ST) is long and takes much time, former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi said today.

Speaking to newsmen here, Mr Jogi, who heads the Congress party's tribal cell, said a State-level commission first verifies whether a community has the traits of ST. The commission then submits its report to the concerned State government, which then forwards a proposal to the Centre, he said.

At the Central level, the ST Commission, the ministry of tribal welfare and the Registrar General of Census each carry out the verification independently, Mr Jogi said.

Thus, the process takes time and this could not happen overnight, Mr Jogi said, while referring to the agitation by the Gujjar community in Rajasthan for their inclusion in the ST list.

In reply to a question, Mr Jogi said constituents of the UPA were still in discussion over the candidate for the upcoming presidential polls. The UPA commanded a majority in the Electoral College, but nevertheless must field a candidate that would be acceptable to all its constituents, he said.

The UPA commanded 53 per cent of the votes in terms of value, and this included the strength of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), he said.

The entire opposition, including the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Samajwadi Party (SP), had 47 per cent of the votes, he added.

UNI