As a part of the ongoing agitation by Schedule Tribe Demand Committee (STDCM), Manipur from March 21, demanding to enlist Meitei or Meetei in schedule tribe list, the committee staged the sit-in protest for the third day at Naoremthong on Monday.
Addressing media at the sidelines of the protest, general secretary of the committee K Bhogendro said that from the past three days, the committee had resumed the agitation for the long pending demand of inclusion of Meitei or Meetei in schedule tribe list but there has been zero response from the state government so far.
The committee will continue the agitation until and unless the state government sends its ethnographic or socio-economic status of Meitei or Meetei to the Central government, he added.
He further said that as per memorandum submitted by the committee, the Centre had urged to submit recommendation from the state government for inclusion of Meetei or Meitei in schedule tribe list. Consequently, the state government has to send the ethnographic and socio-economic status of Meetei or Meetei to the Centre, he added.
Stating that the unresponsiveness of the state government is highly unfortunate, he added that the protest will continue until and unless the government takes up some steps to submit the said recommendation at the earliest.
Bhogendro said that Meetei or Meitei is one of the ethnic minorities in the country, as such it is much needed to give constitutional safeguard to protect and preserve the indigenous identity.
