New Delhi, March 12 The office of the Registrar General of India has sought justification for the Bihar government's proposal to grant Scheduled Tribe status to the Gangota community, Minister of State for Tribal Affairs, Durgadas Uikey, said in a written response in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
Responding to questions on the inclusion of the Gangota community in the ST list, Uikey said the Bihar government sent a proposal on November 4, 2019, along with an ethnographic report.
"According to the approved modalities, the proposal was referred to the ORGI (the office of the Registrar General of India) for examination and to provide comments on the matter. The ORGI did not support the proposal," Uikey said.
"The comments of the ORGI were referred to the Bihar government in February 2021, with a request for providing justifications/additional information, if any, with regard to the proposal," he added.
Referring to the laid down procedures, the minister said the Indian government had laid down the modalities on June 15, 1999 (further amended on 25.6.2002 and 14.9.2022).
"According to the modalities, only those proposals which have been recommended and justified by the concerned state government/UT administration and concurred with by the office of the Registrar General of India and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes are to be considered. All actions on the proposals are taken as per these approved modalities," he added.