Orissa proposes deletion of 'Kui' from tribal list

Published: December 30,2008 Bhubaneswar , Dec 30 Orissa government has proposed deletion of the term&aposkui&aposfrom the list of tribals in a bid to resolve the controversial fake caste certificate issue believed to have contributed in triggering the Kandhamal riot. A meeting of the state level Tribal Advisory Committee will be held on January 19 to formally decide on deleting the term from the list, official sources said here today. There had been reports of a large section of population, including the schedule caste people converted to Christianity in Kandhamal, obtaining schedule tribe certificate by claiming that they were Kui tribals. A senior SC and ST development department official said that there is no specific group known as Kui tribe. " Though Kui being considered as a specific tribal group, but in fact it was never a tribe but a language,"he said, adding that though a large number of people speak Kui language in Kandhamal, all of them are not tribals. As per the existing law, a schedule caste person can not avail reservation and other benefits after getting converted to other religion. However, a tribal can retain his status and get benefits even if he converts to any other religion. The fake caste certificate issue had turned out to be a major problem for the administration. The officials had received as many as 600 complaints relating to fake tribal certificates mainly from areas in Kandhamal where people, mostly non-tribal Christians, had acquired tribal certificate on the basis of speaking Kui dialect. Kui Samaj Samanway Samiti (KSSS), a tribal body in Kandhamal, had been agitating since a long time demanding cancellation of fake caste certificates acquired by non-tribals in the district. more Discusssion : A move to deprive christians tribal status?