On September 14, 2022, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister (PM) of India Narendra Modi approved the inclusion of several communities in the Schedule Tribes (STs) list of the Constitution across 5 states, as a part of the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amendment) Bill 2022.
- The 5 states include, are Himachal Pradesh (HP), Tamil Nadu (TN), Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Chhattisgarh.
Communities included in STs List:
i.HP: Granting of tribal status is proposed to the Hatti community living in the Trans-Giri region of HP.
ii.TN: It is proposed the inclusion of ‘Narikoravan’ and ‘Kurivikkaran’ communities in the list of state’s STs.
iii.Karnataka: The Cabinet approved ‘Betta-Kuruba’ as a synonym for the Kadu Kuruba tribe In Karnataka.
iv.Chhattisgarh: The Binjhia community, who were listed as ST in Jharkhand and Odisha but not in Chhattisgarh, is newly added to the list.The Cabinet also approved synonyms for tribes to 12 existing tribes in the ST list including Bharia (variations added include Bhumia and Bhuyian), Gadhwa (Gadwa), Dhanwar (Dhanawar, Dhanuwar), Nagesia (Nagasia, Kisan), and Pondh (Pond), among others.
v.Uttarpradesh – Cabinet also approved a proposal to bring the Gond community residing in 13 districts of Uttar Pradesh (UP), under the ST list from the Scheduled Caste list. This includes the five subcategories of the Gond community (Dhuria, Nayak, Ojha, Pathari, and Rajgond).
- The changes were approved for four districts in Uttar Pradesh — Kushinagar, Sant Ravidas Nagar, Chandauli and Sant Kabir Nagar.
Key Points:
i.After the Bill becomes an Act, the member of the communities newly listed in the revised list of STs will also be able to utilize benefits meant for STs under the existing schemes of the Government
- Some of the major schemes include Post Matric Scholarship, National Overseas Scholarship, National Fellowship, Top Class Education, Concessional Loans from National Scheduled Tribes Finance and Development Corporation, Hostels for ST boys and girls etc.
ii.The process to include tribes in the ST list begins with the recommendation from the respective State governments, which are then sent to the Tribal Affairs Ministry, which reviews and sends them to the Registrar General of India (RGI) for approval. This is followed by the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes’ (NCST) approval before the list is sent to the Cabinet for a final decision.
Cabinet approves signing of guarantees for hosting FIFA U-17 Womens‘ Football World Cup
The Union Cabinet approved the signing of Guarantees for hosting Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) Under 17 Women’s World Cup 2022 in India.
Notably, the 7th edition FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2022 is scheduled to be held in India between October 11-30, 2022 in Navi Mumbai (Maharashtra), Goa and Bhubaneswar (Odisha).
- It will be the first-ever FIFA women’s competition to be hosted by India. In 2017, India successfully hosted the FIFA Under-17 Men’s World Cup India-2017 at six different venues namely New Delhi (Delhi), Guwahati (Assam), Mumbai, Goa, Kochi (Kerala) and Kolkata (West Bengal).
Financial outlay:
i.Rs 60 crore will be spent for hosting the tournament that will see participation of 16 teams, including India.
ii.Rs 10 crore assistance will be provided to All India Football Federation (AIFF) for Field of play Maintenance, Stadium power, Energy & Cabling, Stadia & Training Site Branding etc. from the budgetary allocation for the Scheme of Assistance to National Sports Federations (NSFs).
About FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup
It is a biennial world championship for female players under or upto the age of 17, organized by FIFA. The event started in 2008 and is held in even-numbered years.
- The 6th edition was held in Uruguay in 2018.
- Spain is the current champion of FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup.
Cabinet nod for Value-added Agriculture Mission
The Union Cabinet also approved the setting up of Value-Added Agriculture Mission (VAAM) which aims at doubling farmers’ income in Kerala. The mission envisages the branding of ethnic Kerala foods so that they find markets in West Asian countries.
About VAAM:
It will be chaired by the Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan. The Ministers for Agriculture and Industries will be vice chairs. The governing body has eight Ministers. Special working groups will be headed by the Principal Secretary (Agriculture). At the State-level, the VAAM will have a coordinator and a Chief Operating Officer.
i.For VAAM, the Agriculture department will be supported by other departments, including Industries, Water Resources and Local Self-government.
ii.The VAAM will help identify profitable national/international markets for Kerala products by focusing on procurement, standardisation, quality control, branding and labelling.
iii.There will be identification of technologies and mechanisation that aid value-addition and speedier dissemination of information through a common knowledge platform.
Recent Related News:
i.The Union Cabinet approved the signing of a contract between India and France to support International Transport Forum (ITF) activities in the Indian transport sector.
ii.Union Cabinet approved the signing of ‘Audio Visual Co-Production Treaty’ between India and Australia to promote co-production of films.
What is Value-added agriculture?
Value-added agriculture entails changing a raw agricultural product into something new through packaging, processing, cooling, drying, extracting or any other type of process that differentiates the product from the original raw commodity.
About All India Football Federation (AIFF)
- Formed in – 1937
- President – Kalyan Chaubey
- Headquarters – New Delhi,Delhi
