Assam: AATSU submits memorandum to President Murmu, flags dilution of tribal rights

The All Assam Tribal Students' Union (AATSU) has submitted a memorandum to President Droupadi Murmu through the Kokrajhar District Magistrate, expressing strong objections to the Assam government’s proposal to extend Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to six major ethnic communities — Tai Ahom, Chutia, Koch-Rajbongshi, Matak, Moran, and the Tea Tribes.

Describing the proposal as “anti-tribal”, AATSU warned that expanding the ST list without comprehensive assessment would dilute constitutional protections intended for Assam’s existing tribal population.

The organisation argued that smaller indigenous groups, including the Bodo community, could face significant setbacks if larger and more socio-economically established communities are granted ST status.
AATSU highlighted that many of the six groups already have widespread representation in government jobs, trade sectors, and public life.

According to the Union, their inclusion could jeopardise reservation benefits, welfare schemes, and other socio-economic safeguards designed for genuinely marginalised tribal communities.

AATSU further stated that the six communities under consideration do not meet the parameters laid down by the Lokur Committee, the long-established framework used to determine eligibility for ST inclusion.
These criteria include:

Proven social and educational backwardness

A distinct and preserved cultural identity

Elements of geographical isolation

The Union insisted that the six groups fail to satisfy these benchmarks.

Citing past legal judgments and Assam’s existing reservation matrix, AATSU urged the President not to approve the proposal in its current form.

The group recommended that any future consideration must be preceded by an impartial, evidence-based study conducted by experts in anthropology, constitutional law, and tribal welfare.

AATSU reiterated that only a rigorous and transparent evaluation can safeguard the rights of genuinely marginalised tribal communities, whose constitutional protections, it fears, may be overshadowed by numerically and politically stronger groups if the proposal is accepted.