The Lok Sabha on Monday passed the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Fourth Amendment) Bill, 2022 to include Betta-Kuruba in the Scheduled Tribes list of Karnataka as a synonym for the already categorised Kadu-Kuruba tribe in the State. 

While presenting the bill, Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda said that it seeks to provide justice to the Betta-Kuruba community of Karnataka.

The people of the ‘Betta-Kuruba’ community have been living in the Chamarajnagar, Kodagu and Mysuru districts of Karnataka. They have been demanding they be included in the ST category.

The minister said that the community has only 5000 members living in Karnataka. "The state government of Karnataka has requested to include 'Betta-Kuruba' community as a synonym of 'Kadu Kuruba' in entry 16 in the list of Scheduled Tribes of Karnataka," said the statement of objects and reasons of the Bill.

In his reply to the debate on the Bill, Munda said that the Congress party has not done anything for the welfare of the tribal community.

Munda said this process was a testament to the Narendra Modi-led government’s commitment to providing enough time to discuss issues of communities that had for decades remained on the margins of society and deprived of constitutional liberties. “We do not want to bring legislation in a way that will drown out the voices of these communities that in some cases number less than 10,000,” he said, adding that because of this, the House was now giving due time to discuss issues pertaining to the smallest and most marginalised communities in the country.

Once the Bill is approved by Parliament and the rules are framed, the members of the Betta-Kuruba community will be entitled to all benefits which are provided to the members of the Scheduled Tribes, especially reservation in educational institutions and government jobs.

Participating in the discussion, several members of the Opposition parties said that merely including the communities in the ST list will not help and the government should consider taking welfare measures for them as well.

Image source: PTI