Rajya Sabha passed the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order Amendment Bill, 2024 and Constitution (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) Order Amendment Bill, 2024.
It cleared the way for the addition of several new communities to the Scheduled Tribes list of Odisha.
It also helps to inclusion of synonyms and phonetic variations of existing tribes in the ST lists of both Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.
Among the additions were notably seven Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) (a subset of STs) - four in Odisha and three in Andhra Pradesh.
In Odisha, the PVTG communities added are
Pauri Bhuyan and Paudi Bhuyan as synonyms of the Bhuyan tribe;
The Chuktia Bhunjia as a synonym of the Bhunjia tribe;
The Bondo as a sub-tribe of the Bondo Poraja tribe; and
The Mankidia as a synonym for the Mankirdia tribe.
In Andhra Pradesh, the PVTG communities included were
Bondo Porja and Khond Porja as synonyms of the Porja tribe and
The Konda Savaras as a synonym for the Savaras tribe.