Why in 1967 was Hattee ST status demand raised in Himachal’s Sirmaur, who all stand to benefit and how

TNR Desk
DHARAMSHALA: The Hattee community in Himachal Pradesh, comprising approximately 1.6 lakh members, has been granted Scheduled Tribe (ST) status, a demand fulfilled after several decades.
The notification was issued by the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu government of Himachal Pradesh on January 1, 2024. The decision will benefit people of 95 villages spread across 58 panchayats in four Assembly constituencies of Sirmaur district, including Shillai, Renukaji, Pachhad and Paonta Sahib.
The Hattee community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe status dates back to 1967 when they first raised the issue after the adjoining Jaunsar Bawar region (now in Uttarakhand) was accorded ST status.
The previous Jai Ram Thakur-led BJP government in Himachal Pradesh took concrete measures to address this longstanding demand. He persistently raised it with the Narendra Modi government and on September 14, 2022, the Union Cabinet approved the grant of Scheduled Tribe status to the Hattee community. Subsequently, a related bill received approval in the Lok Sabha in December 2022 and in the Rajya Sabha in July 2023.
The Scheduled Tribe status is expected to have far-reaching implications for the community as they will now be eligible for reserved quotas in educational institutions and government jobs. The Hattee community, which has a rich cultural heritage, can now look forward to enhanced opportunities and recognition.
“Our government had assured that we will issue the notification within 24 hours of receiving clarification from the Centre on excluding the local SC community from the ambit of the decision. We did it immediately as the clarification from the Centre was received on December 30 and yesterday it was a holiday,” said Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu while making the announcement.
CM Sukhu said the law department had raised objections, following which a clarification was sought from the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs regarding exclusion of the Scheduled Caste (SC) community. He said it was in September 2022 that the Himachal government had sought clarification from the Centre and had even sent several reminders.