A committee of ministers of the Assam government on according Scheduled Tribe status to six of the state’s communities, held its first meeting on Sunday and decided to submit its report to the Centre by February 15. The last session of the Parliament (budget session) will end on February 13. We think the Scheduled Tribe issue is a ploy of the Centre to divert the people’s attention from the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019. If the Centre is serious about the six communities, it should pass the Scheduled Tribe bill on the very first day of the budget session from January 31,” he said. Sarma said they will sit with the All Assam Tribal Sangha, which has been opposing the Centre’s move to grant Scheduled Tribe status to the six communities, on January 28.

Source: The Telegraph January 20, 2019 18:58 UTC