West Bengal govt to write to Centre, seeking ST status for Kurmis

Kolkata: The West Bengal government will again write to the Centre seeking grant of Scheduled Tribe status to the Kurmi community, a senior official said.

The decision was taken following a 45-minute-long meeting between representatives of the community with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the state secretariat, he said on Wednesday.

Banerjee met three representatives — Suvendu Mahato, Vijay Mahato and Sunil Mahato — of the Kurmi community and MLAs from the Jangalmahal area and listened to their grievances and demands, he told PTI.

Banerjee said during the meeting that her government has written four times to the Centre on this issue, but no solution has been found till date.

"The Chief Minister assured them of considering writing again to the Centre on their demands. She also agreed to form a new Kurmi Samaj Development Board," the official said.

Senior ministers Firhad Hakim, Moloy Ghatak and chief secretary HK Dwivedi were also present at the meeting.

Last month, several organisations of the Kurmi community had staged a protest for more than three days and blocked railway tracks and roads demanding the inclusion of the Kurmi community in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) list.