In poll year, Centre proposes tribal status for Himachal’s Sirmaur region

“This is a very old demand in the area. While many Scheduled Caste (SC) communities live here, this demand has primarily arisen from the upper caste communities, including Rajputs and Brahmins,” a source said. “Once this status is granted, all communities in the area will enjoy ST status.”

The demand first surfaced in 1969-70, soon after neighbouring Jaunsar Bawar area of Uttarakhand was granted a similar status.

“The communities in Jaunsar and Simrauli were both under the Simrauli kingdom, so customs, language and dress are common between the people from the two regions,” the source said. “Families are also split between the two regions — while some relatives enjoy ST status by virtue of belonging to Uttarakhand, the Himachal side of a family doesn’t (enjoy similar status).”

Sources in the government pointed out that once the Cabinet clears the proposal, it will either be tabled in Parliament, or the government may consider bringing in an ordinance.

Despite the persistent demand, the Centre has repeatedly turned down tribal status for people from the area. In a reply to Mandi MP Pratibha Singh earlier this year, the Tribal Affairs Ministry had said that granting tribal status to the area could not be considered due to want of criteria. The state government has been pursuing tribal status for people of the region since 2016.

The demand has been most vociferous from the Hattee community of Sirmaur district. Out of five Assembly constituencies in Sirmaur, the demand has been present in four constituencies.

Of these Hattee-dominated Assembly constituencies, two have BJP representatives while the other two have elected representatives from opposition Congress.

There are 144 gram panchayats in these four constituencies, and a population of 3.5 lakh people. Sources in BJP said tribal status, a highly emotive issue for the communities living in Sirmaur, will most certainly pay electoral dividends to the ruling party and help the party wrest the two Hattee-dominated Assembly seats that voted for the Congress in the last elections.