The Union Cabinet has given its consent to grant tribal status to Hatti community living in Trans -Giri area in Sirmaur district of the state fulfilling their decades old demand.
The decision was taken in the Union Cabinet meeting held at New Delhi on Wednesday. Giving information about the decision Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said, “The Cabinet has given its consent to grant tribal status to Hatti community living in Trans- Giri area of Sirmaur district fulfilling their decade’s long demand.”
People living in the Trans –Giri area have been raising this demand for nearly seventy years after the Jaunsar- Bawar (now in Uttrakhand) area adjacent to Trans-Giri was given tribal status by the Central government but the Hatti community was denied the same status.
The people had also formed a Central Committee of Hatti Community to take up this demand and held several khumlis (congregations) and strong protests to pressurize the Central and the state government to fulfill their demand.
The BJP government has been pursuing this issue determinedly and even Prime Minister Narender Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah had given their positive response on giving tribal status to the Hatti community.
Though, a section of the scheduled caste community is opposing the tribal status for the Trans -Giri area but the decision would benefit lakhs of people living in the area. This decision is likely to benefit BJP politically in the next Assembly election as CM Jai Ram Thakur and other leaders have been vouching for tribal status to the Hatti community.
Formal notification in this regard would be issued by the Central government after consent of the President of India.
Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur has thanked the Union Government in general and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in particular for granting tribal status to the Trans Giri area and said, “A long pending demand has been fulfilled by the Central government.”
