The Coordination Committee of Tribal Organisations of Assam (CCTOA) has announced that it rejects the recommendations made by the Group of Ministers to grant Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to six Assam communities. The decision was made public through an official statement issued by the organisation.
The six communities seeking ST status are Tai Ahom, Chutia, Moran, Motok, Koch-Rajbongshi and Tea Tribes. According to CCTOA, the rejection is based on constitutional, historical, and legal reasons. The group stated that granting ST status to these communities would negatively affect the rights and political representation of the communities already recognised as Scheduled Tribes in the state.
CCTOA also reminded that Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are two separate groups under the Constitution of India. It said that the identification of ST communities is based on specific characteristics such as unique culture, isolation, backwardness and other criteria laid down earlier by the Lokur Committee in 1965. 
The organisation further said that these six communities were earlier identified as Other Backward Classes (OBC) by the Assam Government and the National Commission for Backward Classes. Once declared as OBC, they should not later be reclassified as Scheduled Tribes for political reasons, the statement added.
CCTOA pointed out that several historical committees, including the Lokur Committee and earlier Constituent Assembly reports, had opposed recognising Tea and Ex-Tea Garden labour communities as STs. Similarly, the committee said the Tai Ahom, Chutia, Moran and Matak communities were not considered tribal groups in earlier official records.
On the question of Koch-Rajbongshis, CCTOA said that Koch and Rajbongshi were historically two different communities, and Koch people were once listed as Scheduled Castes in West Bengal. Therefore, they should not be treated as Scheduled Tribes in Assam.
The group also argued that the demand for ST status is mainly to secure political reservation in panchayats, autonomous councils and the state assembly, since OBCs do not have separate political reservation in Assam. It added that these communities already receive 27% OBC reservation in education and jobs.
CCTOA warned that giving ST status to the six communities would reduce or damage the political reservation and benefits currently enjoyed by the existing ST communities. It said the overall reservation percentage in Assam is already high and may cross the constitutional limit of 50% if more groups are added.
