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THE Congress-led UPA government’s major pitch to the tribal community ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the set up of a high-level committee to assess their socio-economic status, may fall flat with the committee unlikely to submit its interim report in February as planned, thus delaying the final report as well.
The Sachar-type committee to investigate the socio-economic status of tribals, under National Advisory Council member and TISS Guwahati’s Deputy Director Virginius Xaxa, was set up in August last year and was to submit its report within nine months. This would have been around May, coinciding with the Lok Sabha polls. Subsequently, Tribal Affairs Minister V Kishore Chandra Deo asked the committee to submit an interim report in six months, which would mean February.
However, according to ministry sources, it does not look like the committee will be able to submit an interim report at all, let alone in February. The committee met for the first time on September 10 but not much work seems to have been done so far. “The committee’s mandate seems a bit over-ambitious given the time frame. Very little work has been done so far and an interim report is highly unlikely. We don’t think the committee will be able to submit its final report in May either,” said a ministry official on condition of anonymity.
When contacted by The Indian Express, Xaxa confirmed the interim report will not be submitted in February and may happen in April. But given the Lok Sabha polls are likely in April-May, the efficacy of the interim report being submitted then remains to be seen.
This would further mean the final report will be delayed beyond the originally scheduled timeline and will probably come in only under the new dispensation. The committee is politically crucial for the Congress given the party is hoping to target the tribal vote bank.
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