Lok Sabha passes Bill to include Betta-Kuruba community in ST category

Once the Bill is approved by Parliament, the Betta-Kuruba community will be entitled to all benefits which are provided to the members of the Scheduled Tribes, especially reservation in educational institutions and government jobs.

Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda said the Bill seeks to provide justice to the Betta-Kuruba community. (PTI/File)

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Lok Sabha Friday passed a Bill to include the ‘Betta-Kuruba’ community along with ‘Kadu Kuruba’ in the list of Scheduled Tribes in Karnataka.

Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda said the Bill seeks to provide justice to the Betta-Kuruba community which has only 5,000 members in Karnataka.

In his reply to the debate on the Bill, Munda said that the Congress party has not done anything for the welfare of the tribal community.

Once the Bill is approved by Parliament and the rules are framed, the members of the Betta-Kuruba community will be entitled to all benefits which are provided to the members of the Scheduled Tribes, especially reservation in educational institutions and government jobs.

Participating in the discussion, several members of the Opposition parties said that merely including the communities in the ST list will not help and the government should consider taking welfare measures for them as well.

Congress member K Suresh said that the government has brought this Bill for vote bank politics. “Tribal communities are facing serious issues pertaining to education, health and employment,” he said.

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