People belonging to the Kurmi community blocked railway tracks in various parts of Eastern India demanding their inclusion on the list of Scheduled Tribes (ST) and the inclusion of the Kurmali language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.
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The protests lead to the cancellation, short termination and diversion of several trains in West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha.
The agitation comes a week after the Cabinet approved the inclusion of several communities in Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh in the list of Scheduled Tribes.
The renewed stir by the Kurmis comes at a time when six communities in Assam — Adivasi, Chutia, Koch-Rajbongshi, Matak, Moran and Tai-Ahom — too have threatened to launch an agitation over the “inordinate delay” in their inclusion in the ST list.
Currently, in Odisha, West Bengal and Jharkhand, the Kurmi community is classified under the Other Backward Classes group with the Odisha government also recognising the community under the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes.
State governments in Jharkhand and West Bengal have repeatedly recommended the inclusion of this community in the ST list, with the latest demand coming from the West Bengal government in January 2021.
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