Lok Sabha passes two Bills to modify lists of SCs, STs in Jammu and Kashmir

New Delhi: The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed two Bills to modify the lists of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2024, adds Valmiki community as a synonym of Chura, Balmiki, Bhangi, and Mehtar communities in the list of Scheduled Castes in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Bill seeks to amend the Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheduled Castes Order of 1956, which lists the castes deemed to be Scheduled Castes in the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

Replying to a debate on the Bill, Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Virendra Kumar said there is equality in Jammu and Kashmir after the scrapping of Article 370 of the Constitution, which accorded special status to the erstwhile state.

The minister said earlier dispensations only used Scheduled Caste people as their vote-bank.

He also clarified that his government was not closing pre-matric and post-matric scholarships for SC students.

The Lok Sabha also passed the Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheduled Tribes Order (Amendment) Bill, 2024, which seeks to add four communities — Gadda Brahmin, Koli, Paddari Tribe, and Pahari Ethnic Group — to the list of Scheduled Tribes in Jammu and Kashmir.

Responding to a debate on the Bill, Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda said that with the scrapping of Article 370, the BJP government has sent out a message that India is one, from Kashmir to Kanyakumari.

On the demand of an opposition member for the inclusion of Ladakh in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, he said that the BJP is concerned about the people of the Union territory.

The Bill seeks to amend the Constitution (Jammu and Kashmir) Scheduled Tribes Order of 1989 to create separate lists for Scheduled Tribes for the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.