Manipur government had neglected to act on Meitei inclusion in ST list, HC noted in April 19 order

The decision for inclusion of Meiteis in the ST list would be examined by the Union Tribal Affairs ministry only once it received the state government’s recommendation, the court had clarified.

The high court order, while passed last month, has been at the centre of tensions between the Kuki tribe and the majority Meitei population which finally escalated into violent clashes between the two communities over the past two days. The All-Tribal Student’s Union of Manipur, currently dominated by student leaders of the Kuki community, led a march against the Meitei’s ST demand that first sparked violence in an area bordering the Meitei-dominated Bishnupur and the Kuki-dominated Churachandpur districts.

While the Meiteis have in the past sighted opposition from the state’s tribal communities for non-inclusion in the ST list, the high court in its order has repeatedly pointed out that it is the Meitei-dominated state government that has been unable to send a recommendation for the inclusion.

In their petition, the Meitei Tribe Union had contended that the status of the Meitei community before the execution of the Merger Agreement with India on September 21st 1949 was that of a “tribe among tribes of Manipur”.

The petition further says that while merging Manipur, an independent kingdom, with the Union of India, the Meitei community lost the identity of a tribe as the community was left out during the preparation of the Scheduled Tribes list of India under Article 342 of the Constitution and, therefore, “Meetei/Meitei should be included as a tribe among the tribes of Manipur so as to preserve the said community and save the ancestral land, tradition, culture and language”.

In 2013, in response to demands made by the Scheduled Tribe Demand Committee for the inclusion, the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs wrote to the Manipur government “requesting for specific recommendation along with the latest socio-economic survey and ethnographic report”.

Despite this letter dated May 29, 2013, the Manipur government did not submit a recommendation.

In April 2022, the Meitei Tribe Union had submitted a representation to the Union Minister of Tribal Affairs with a copy to 12 authorities, including the Manipur chief secretary, seeking inclusion of the Meitei tribe of Manipur in the list of Scheduled Tribe under Indian Constitution. In May 2022, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs forwarded the representation to the Secretary, Government of Manipur. In its letter to the state government, the tribal affairs ministry said that STs are notified under Article 342 of the Constitution for which the Indian government has approved modalities for “determining claims for inclusion in and other modifications in list of STs”.

“As per those modalities only proposals recommended and justified by the state government concerned and agreed to by RGI as well as NCSI are considered for amendment of legislation. All the actions are taken as per approved modalities. The recommendation of the concerned state government is pre-requisite to process the case further,” the tribal ministry said in its letter.

The Manipur High Court observed that it is clear from the ministry’s letter that a recommendation from the state government was pending

“Nothing has been produced by the respondents, particularly the respondent State to show that they have sent reply to the letter dated 29.5.2013 of the Government of India, Ministry of Tribal Affairs. Thus, the issue of inclusion of Meetei/Meitei community in the Scheduled Tribes list of the Constitution is pending for nearly ten years and above. No satisfactory explanation is forthcoming from the side of the respondent State for not submitting the recommendation for the last 10 years. Therefore, it would be appropriate to direct the respondent State to submit its recommendation to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs within a reasonable time,” the high court observed.