OPS urges Centre, TN to include Badagas community in ST list

CHENNAI: AIADMK coordinator and former chief minister O Panneerselvam on Monday urged both the Tamil Nadu and the Centre to include the Badaga community in the scheduled tribes' list.

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Mody, the AIADMK leader claimed that the Badagas are an ethnic and linguistic minority tribal group with a different culture and custom of their own.

Stating that the Badaga dialect is a cultural identity of their community on the hills of the Nilgris district, he said, " A detailed study of various features of Badaga community revealed that they are primitive traits having distinctive culture".

Recalling the letter written to the Union government by the then chief minister J Jayalalithaa in 2003 when she was in power, the AIADMK leader said, "In this connection, it is pertinent to point out here that in the census of 1931, the Badagas were classified as a tribe".

"I request your good self to issue necessary directions to the concerned minister to consider this genuine demand of the Badaga community and include them in the list of scheduled tribes as early as possible,” he said.

In a separate statement, the deputy opposition leader of the house also urged the Tamil Nadu chief minister to take measures in putting the Badaga community on the scheduled tribes' list.

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