Baleswar MP RK Jena has taken up the issue of status of Kudumi (or Kurmi) community for according it the status of OBC under the Constitution.
He approached a national commission constituted under Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, for de-notified, nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes. The commission has been constituted with a purpose to identify communities, their habitats and status of their inclusion in SC, ST and OBC and suggest welfare measures for upliftment of these communities.
In Odisha, the estimated population of the community is 25 lakh of which 75,000-76,000 are there in Jena’s constituency of Baleswar.
According to Census records, the community was classified as ‘primitive tribe’ in 1931 and as ‘tribal Hindus’ in 1941 and yet they have been deprived of for years of the facilities, the Constitution guarantees to the Scheduled Tribes.
Jena urged upon the commission to take cognizance of this down-trodden Kudumi tribe and include them in the Schedule Tribe category so that they may also have a fair opportunity to develop with the rest of the nation.