Yobin tribe of Arunachal Pradesh gets Scheduled Tribe (ST) status back

Our Correspondent

Itanagar, July 25: The Yobins residing in Vijaynagar of Changlang district in Arunachal Pradesh have a reason to cheer as the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs has reportedly approved a proposal to issue Scehdule Tribe status to them, according to sources here.

The issuance of scheduled tribe (ST) certificates to the Yobin tribe was halted since March last year following a ‘faulty’ notification issued by the state government in February 2015. The latest development to this effect came after the state government submitted a proposal to the ministry for its approval to issue APST certificates to Yobin tribe.

The Centre has directed the state government to extend benefits and include the Yobin in the state’s Scheduled Tribe (ST) list, saying the Yobin and any other tribe “inhabiting in Arunachal Pradesh is inclusive tribe and no separate amendments are required in terms of Article 342(2) of the Constitution of India,” sources said.

In a letter addressed to the state’s social justice, empowerment & tribal affairs ministry, Union Under-secretary Asghar Ali observed that the Yobin tribe does not figure among the 16 tribes that were enumerated as per the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950 (Part XVIII). “The words ‘all tribes in the state including’ are indicative that the list of STs in Arunachal Pradesh is an open-ended list, which means all indigenous tribes in the state of Arunachal Pradesh are included, besides those listed in (16 tribes),” the under-secretary explained.

He said, however, that the list is illustrative and not limited only to 16 tribes “and no separate amendments are required in Article 342(2) of Indian Constitution” to include the tribe in the ST list.

“The illustrations cannot restrict the ambit of the provision. Thus, Yobin or any other tribe inhabiting in Arunachal Pradesh is an inclusive tribe and no separate amendments are required in terms of Article 342(2) of the Constitution of India,” Ali said.

“However, if there is any doubt whether a particular community is an indigenous tribe of the state, only then a proposal would be required to be formulated, based on an ethnographic study,” he added.