Guwahati, 09 July (HS): The Assam government on Thursday said it cannot specify when the long-pending proposal to grant Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to six communities will be approved, as the matter is currently under the consideration of the Central Government.

Replying to a question by MLA Chakradhar Gogoi in the Assam Legislative Assembly, Tribal Affairs Minister Ranoj Pegu stated that the authority to confer Scheduled Tribe status lies solely with the Centre and Parliament. He said the state government has no role in determining the timeline for the proposal's approval.

Pegu informed the House that the Centre had sought a detailed report from the Assam government to assess whether the inclusion of the six communities would affect the constitutional safeguards, reservation benefits and other rights of the existing Scheduled Tribes in the state.

He said the state had constituted a Group of Ministers (GoM) to examine the issue and its report was approved during the Winter Session of the Assembly in November 2025. The process of forwarding the report and recommendations to the Central Government is now in progress.

The minister added that the state has completed its part of the exercise, while the final decision will be taken by the Centre after the required constitutional and parliamentary procedures are completed. Although no deadline has been fixed, the government expressed hope that the longstanding demand for ST status for the six communities would eventually be fulfilled.------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Sriprakash