Sikkim's Quest for ST Recognition: A Cultural Mission

The Sikkim government has formed a 12-member committee to gather evidence to recommend 12 communities for Scheduled Tribes (ST) status. Led by BV Sharma and Mahendra P Lama, the committee will compile an ethnographic report to support their inclusion, considering socio-cultural and ecological factors, and will report back in three months.

The Sikkim government has initiated efforts to gain Scheduled Tribes status for 12 local communities by establishing a specialized 12-member committee, announced a notification by Chief Secretary VB Pathak on Monday.

The committee, chaired by Anthropological Survey of India Director BV Sharma and vice chaired by JNU's Professor Mahendra P Lama, aims to conduct a comprehensive ethnographic and anthropological study on the specified communities.

These efforts are intended to provide socio-cultural, historical, and ecological grounds for the communities' inclusion in the ST list, with a report due in three months to foster socio-economic development in the eastern Himalaya region.

(With inputs from agencies.)