In Parliament: Lok Sabha clears Bill to give ST status to Himachal’s Hattee community

The government’s move to introduce the Bill came after the Himachal Pradesh government requested the Centre to include the Hattee community in the ST list.

Based on the state’s recommendation, the Centre introduced the Bill and proposed to modify the ST list with respect to Himachal Pradesh by amending the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950, and including the Hattee community.

Munda said people of the community lived in a remote, inaccessible, and hilly terrain near the Uttarakhand border. While the community was listed as ST in Uttarakhand, those living in Himachal Pradesh were excluded, so the government introduced this Bill, he added.

Earlier, participating in the debate, BJP member Ram Kripal Yadav demanded that people of Lohar community, who are known as Lohara in many parts of the country, should also get the benefits of reservation.

Congress member Abdul Khaleque said the government should collate the demands of different communities from all states for tribal status and consider those together.

National Conference member Hasnain Masoodi said many communities remain deprived and disempowered even after getting tribal status. Therefore, the focus should be doing fundamental work for their welfare, he said.

The previous Himachal Pradesh government, headed by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, had demanded to include the Hattee community in the ST list. The state government pushed the issue just ahead of the recent Assembly election. The BJP had promised ST status to the community in its manifesto for the first time in 2009.

The community is spread across 154 panchayats and four Assembly constituencies — Shillai, Paonta Sahib, Pachhad, Shri Renukaji – and had a population of 2.5 lakh as per the 2011 Census, which has now increased to about 3 lakh. In the recent Assembly elections, Shillai and Sri Renukaji were won by the Congress, while the BJP won Paonta Sahib and Pachhad seats.