The Assam Cabinet on Wednesday evening gave its formal approval to a comprehensive report recommending Scheduled Tribe (ST) status for six major communities—Moran, Matak, Chutia, Koch-Rajbongshi, Tai-Ahom, and Adivasi (tea-garden workers)—a decision that could dramatically alter the state’s reservation architecture and extend constitutional safeguards to more than 80 lakh citizens who have long claimed indigenous tribal identity.

Prepared under the chairmanship of retired IAS officer Nalin Kohli, the 400-plus-page report was submitted to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on 4 November after nearly a year of extensive fieldwork, public hearings, and scrutiny of ethnographic and historical records. Following detailed discussion in the cabinet meeting chaired by Sarma, the document was cleared unanimously and will now be forwarded to the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs as the official recommendation of the Government of Assam.

These six communities have waged sustained agitations for decades, asserting that their distinct languages, traditional governance systems, customary laws, and socio-economic backwardness fully satisfy the five constitutional criteria for tribal recognition. Granting them ST status would immediately entitle members to reserved seats in the Lok Sabha and Assam Legislative Assembly, quotas in government jobs and educational institutions, and access to special development funds currently restricted to the state’s existing hill and plains tribal groups.

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While leaders of the six communities hailed the cabinet decision as a “historic justice,” voices from existing Scheduled Tribes—particularly the Bodo, Mising, and Karbi—expressed apprehension that the sudden inclusion of such large populations could dilute benefits and intensify competition for limited resources. Political analysts point out that the move holds significant electoral weight, especially in Upper Assam and the tea-garden belt, regions that collectively account for over 40 assembly seats.

The final authority now lies with the Government of India, which must place the recommendation before Parliament to amend the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950. Chief Minister Sarma has pledged full administrative support to expedite the process at the central level, signalling the state’s determination to see one of the largest proposed expansions of tribal status in Northeast India reach its conclusion within the current NDA government’s tenure.

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