Rajya Sabha passes bill to grant ST status to two communities of Tamil Nadu

Subject :Polity

Context:

Rajya Sabha passed a Bill that seeks to grant Scheduled Tribe status to Narikoravan and Kurivikkaran communities in Tamil Nadu.

Status of Scheduled Tribes in India:

According to the 2011 Census, the Scheduled Tribes account for 104 million representing 8.6% of the country’s population.
No community has been specified as Scheduled Tribe in the State of Haryana and Punjab and UTs of Chandigarh, Delhi and Puducherry.
The Government of India set up the Ministry of Tribal Affairs in 1999 after the bifurcation of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

What is the the list of Scheduled Tribes:

Article 342 provides for specification of tribal communities or parts of or groups within tribes or tribal communities which are deemed to be Scheduled Tribes in relation to that State or UT.
In pursuance of these provisions, the list of Scheduled Tribes is notified for each State or Union Territory and these lists are valid only within the jurisdiction of that State or UT and not outside.
A community declared as a Scheduled Tribe in a State need not be so in another State.

What is the process of inclusion in the list:

The process to include tribes in the ST list begins with the recommendation from the respective State governments.
These recommendations are then sent to the Tribal Affairs Ministry, which reviews and sends them to the Registrar General of India for approval.
This is followed by the approval of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes before the list is sent to the Cabinet for a final decision.