Jaipur: BJP MP from Udaipur Manna Lal Rawat is preparing to push for a legislative amendment in the upcoming Parliament session to link Scheduled Tribe (ST) status with adherence to a community’s original faith, cultural identity and traditional customs. The proposal could affect tribal families who have converted to Christianity and other religions but continue to avail reservation and other benefits available to ST communities.Rawat, who is also BJP’s national president of the Scheduled Tribe Morcha, said the issue had come to his notice during interactions with tribal communities across the country. He alleged that members of families who had converted to other faiths, including those who had changed religion over two generations, continued to avail benefits meant for indigenous communities.Speaking on the sidelines of his Jaipur visit Wednesday, he told TOI, “I had raised the issue with BJP’s national leadership, which was concerned about the situation across the country and was exploring a constitutional remedy.”Rawat hinted that the proposed change would involve an amendment to the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950. He also suggested using historical family records, including those from the 1951 Census, as a benchmark to establish tribal identity.“The 1951 Census records could be considered as a benchmark to identify whether a person or family belongs to a Scheduled Tribe. If they had changed their original faith, cultural identity and traditional customs, they should delist from the ST quota,” he said, alleging that such families were eating into the rights of the original beneficiaries. He also did not rule out a national-level awareness campaign to build consensus on the issue.Rawat had raised the issue in Parliament under Rule 377 in March 2026, arguing that the Census should identify people as STs only if they retained their original faith, cultural identity and traditional customs. He also cited Supreme Court observations on the distinct cultural identity of tribal communities.“The problem of conversion is prevalent in tribal areas in Rajasthan, MP, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand,” he said.The demand comes amid a wider campaign by organisations seeking the exclusion of converted tribals from the ST list. A gathering organised by Janjati Suraksha Manch in Delhi in May 2026 brought together representatives of more than 500 tribal communities, who demanded that converts be removed from the list.
