Rajya Sabha okays bill to include Gond community in ST category in four districts of UP

New Delhi: The Rajya Sabha on Wednesday passed a bill that seeks to include the Gond community in the Scheduled Tribes category in parts of Uttar Pradesh.

The Rajya Sabha passed by a voice vote the Constitution (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) Orders (Second Amendment) Bill, 2022, with some amendments. The bill was introduced by Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda on Tuesday.

Munda also moved amendments to the bill, which will again go to the Lok Sabha for its nod.

The bill was earlier passed by the Lok Sabha in April this year.

The bill seeks to amend the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) (Uttar Pradesh) Order, 1967 (ST Order) and the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 (SC Order) with respect to its application to Uttar Pradesh.

It amends the Scheduled Castes order to exclude the Gond community as a Scheduled Caste in four districts of Uttar Pradesh: Chandauli, Kushinagar, Sant Kabir Nagar, and Sant Ravidas Nagar. It amends the ST order to recognise the Gond community as a Scheduled Tribe in these four districts.