The Lok Sabha on Monday passed a Bill to amend the Constitution to include Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh under Article 164 for the purpose of welfare of tribal people in these states.
The Constitution (105th Amendment) Bill, 2006, which was unanimously passed after a division with all the 351 members who were present voting in favour, excludes Bihar from the purview of the provision of having a minister in charge of tribal welfare in view of negligible population of Scheduled Tribes there.
The amendment proposed to include new states of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand which have a considerable tribal population. While the percentage of tribals to the total population was just 0.9 in Bihar, it was 26.3 for Jharkhand, 31.8 for Chhattisgarh and 20.3 for Madhya Pradesh, Home Minister Shivraj Patil said
As there were no scheduled areas remaining in Bihar and the fraction of tribal population was very small, the amendment excludes the state from the purview and includes Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand under it.
While now it will be mandatory for Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand to have a tribal minister, Bihar will not be required to have one unless it chooses to do so.
{{/usCountry}}While now it will be mandatory for Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand to have a tribal minister, Bihar will not be required to have one unless it chooses to do so.
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