Decks cleared for inclusion of ‘Hatti’ community in Himachal in list of Scheduled Tribes

Ravi S Singh

New Delhi, April 26

Decks are cleared for inclusion of the ‘Hatti’ community in Himachal Pradesh in the list of Scheduled Tribes (ST) in the state.

This comes after Union Home Minister Amit Shah gave assurance to Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur that Centre would give positive consideration to the issue and give approval for tribal status to the community.

Thakur had led a delegation of the Hatti leaders to Shah on the matter.

“Union Minister Amit Shah has expressed satisfaction at the facts and record presented by the state government. He assured to give positive consideration to the matter,” Thakur told reporters on Tuesday.

“The case will be placed before the Union Cabinet in its next meeting. It will get approval of the Cabinet,” Thakur said.

The community has been demanding the ST status since 1967. The BJP has also been supporting the demand.

The community is demographically spread in Sirmaur district with borders around Uttarakhand.

Thakur said the population of the community in the state is about three lakh.