ES Reporter 

ITANAGAR, Nov 5: The All Arunachal Pradesh Students’ Union (AAPSU) has called for enacting a new law to regulate wedlock between tribal female and non-APST male in the state to permanently put a stop to the misuse of ST certificates.
In a press conference on Tuesday, AAPSU President, Hawa Bagang said that children born out of a marriage between a tribal woman and a non-tribal man shouldn’t be given the status of Scheduled Tribe and their son/daughter be debarred from availing any benefits under the reserved category. “The offspring   of such couples also cannot claim status of Scheduled Tribe and benefits. And any such person just because his mother belongs to tribal community can claim that he/she is an ST by procuring a bogus certificate is unacceptable,” Bagang pointed out. 
Also clarifying that AAPSU is not against marriage between a tribal and a non-tribal, Bagang said their intention is to preserve the identity of the community which is now under threat due to negligence of the concerned ST certificate issuing agency in the state. “We felt that it is important to regulate marriage between Tribal Women and Non-Tribal Men as we have come across many such cases wherein the offspring of such wedlock is allegedly enjoying ST benefits. This dangerous trend should be stopped at all cost,” he alleged adding that the offspring of such marriages must take his/her caste on basis of father’s origins. He urged the state government to pass legislation in Assembly declaring that offspring of Non- APST father and APST mother cannot avail or claim Scheduled Tribe status and other benefits provided by the Constitution to the tribals.      
Also stating that ST Certificate is not a bounty to be distributed, the union has     asked the concerned issuing authority in districts to refrain from issuing such certificates to non-deserving people and conduct proper verification of the applicants before issuing them such certificates. Seeking intervention of State Government, AAPSU has also served an ultimatum of 30 days to the families who have illegally procured ST certificates for their sons/daughters and are enjoying ST benefits to surrender their Certificates within the deadline.
On Inner Line Permit (ILP) issue, it asked the state government to direct the concerned authority to strictly conduct ILP checking drive in respective entry points. In the meantime, the union has also appealed all citizens, students of the universities, colleges and schools to conduct ILP checking at respective institute premises or jurisdiction and submit the data to them.

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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