Badal seeks Oram's intervention for inclusion of Vimukat Jatis in ST list

The Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Thursday sought Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Jual Oram’s personal intervention to accept the State Government’s long pending demand to include Vimukat Jatis in the list of Schedule Tribes.Badal, in a letter to Oram, said that the State Government had written to the Union Government to declare Vimukat Jatis, including 33 sub-castes of the State, as Schedule Tribes. 

He said that two books of ethnographic study done by the Punjabi University, Patiala, in this regard were sent as desired by the Tribal Affairs Ministry through a special messenger on February 28, 2001, and August 21, 2012, respectively. “However, no decision has yet been taken so far regarding the inclusion of Vimukat Jatis in ST list by the Centre,” he bemoaned.  

Urging the Union Minister to look into the matter and take decision regarding inclusion of these castes in ST list at the earliest, the Chief Minister said that it was urgently required for ensuring the welfare of the brethren belonging to these 33 sub-castes.