‘BJP, not Cong, gave ST status to Gaddis’

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, April 29

It was the BJP that got Gaddis and Gujjars the ST status. Former CM Shanta Kumar stated this in a press release here today. The statement came as a reaction to former Congress minister Sudhir Sharma’s promise to give the status to all Gaddis.

Shanta claimed that when he was a Union minister, Kishan Kapoor and Dullo Ram, two Gaddi leaders from Kangra, had met him in Delhi with a demand that ST status be given to all Gaddis rather than those settled in the Bharmour region. “When I inquired, it was found that the Director General, Anthropological Survey of India, in a report had stated that the economic status of Gaddis living outside Bharmour was better than those living in the valley and ST status could be given to them.

The MP said an officer, Sanjeev Sood, was deputed to take up the case of Gaddis with the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.

“After this, a committee was formed and a fresh survey was ordered. The report was sent to the ST Commissioner. I went and met then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee to get his consent over the matter. The PM initially showed reluctance as many such demands were being raised in other parts of the state. However, later he gave his consent. The matter came before the Cabinet and then an amendment was passed in Parliament that was approved by the President, paving the way for giving the status to Gaddis and Gujjars,” Shanta said.