GUWAHATI, Jan 30? The All Assam Koch Rajbongshi Sanmilani and the All Koch Rajbongshi Students? Union have called upon the Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to take immediate steps to include Kochi Rajbongshi community in the list of Scheduled Tribes.
In a memorandum to the Prime Minister, the Sanmilani and the Students? Union said that the Koch Rajbongshi community fulfils all the criteria required for inclusion in the list of Scheduled Tribes but unfortunately, the community was not included in the Comprehensive Revision Bill for SC and ST, which was introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 2,2002.
The memorandum said that the Koch Rajbongshis were included in the list of Scheduled Tribes by an Ordinance in 1996, which was followed by three successive ordinances. The Parliamentary Select Committee also recommended inclusion of Koch Rajbongshi community in the ST(P) list in 1997, the memorandum said.
Meanwhile, the Kokrajhar district Koch Rajbongshi Sanmilani will organise the Koch Rajbongshi Jatiya Mahasabha and Chikrajhar Diwas on February 22 an 23.
The Sanmilani, in a release, said that more that 5,000 delegates from Assam and West Bengal will participate in the programme. The Jatiya Mahasabha will discuss the problems facing the Koch Rajbongshi community and chalk out programmes to put pressure on the Government of India for inclusion of the community in the list of Scheduled Tribes.