Assam: World Meetei Council staged protest for inclusion of Meitei in ST list

The Assam unit of the World Meetei Council (WMC) staged a sit-in protest at Nandapur Charali, Hojai in Assam yesterday demanding that the necessary recommendation to the Centre for the enlistment of Meetei/Meitei in the Scheduled Tribe (ST) list of the Constitution.

According to a statement issued by WMC (Assam unit), the protest demonstration was organised in association with Apunba Meira Paibi Lup Brahmaputra Valley (AMPLBV), Assam Pradesh Manipuri Association (APMA), and United Manipuri Association Assam (UMAA).

In the statement, the council addressed Chief Minister M Biren Singh and asked why he has not been sending the latest socio-economic and ethnographic reports of Meetei/Meitei to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and let the Centre handle the matter.

The Meeteis living in Assam have been demanding ST status to protect their identity much before the Meeteis in Manipur.  It also said that Meitei in Assam will get the ST status when Meeteis in Manipur are enlisted in said category. 

Asserting that only constitutional protection in the form of ST can protect the Meeteis, the council urged N Biren to send the necessary recommendation as required by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs so that the process of inclusion of Meetei in the Scheduled Tribe's list may be completed before the delimitation of 2026.