Thadou Inpi Manipur (TIM), the leading organization representing the Thadou Scheduled Tribe in Manipur, has submitted a memorandum to the state’s Governor, calling for the urgent formation of a permanent State-Level Scheduled Tribe (ST) Scrutiny Committee, as required by the Supreme Court of India. In the memorandum, TIM president M. James Thadou pointed out serious systemic issues affecting the issuance and verification of ST certificates in the region. He referenced recent revelations through Right to Information (RTI) requests and a report from NDTV dated December 24, 2025, which unveiled instances of government employees allegedly obtaining positions using ST certificates linked to unrecognized tribe names like “Kuki,” “Thadou-Kuki,” “Haokip-Kuki,” and “Khongsai-Kuki.” These names are absent from the state’s official list of 34 recognized Scheduled Tribes. TIM stressed that Thadou is a separately recognized Scheduled Tribe under Article 342 of the Constitution and should not be considered a sub-tribe or synonymous with “Kuki.” The group contended that the misuse of hybrid and unlisted tribe names has distorted tribal identity and led to the exploitation of reservation benefits under the “Any Kuki Tribes” category, while genuine members of the Thadou community face identity suppression and ethnic misrepresentation during the ongoing crisis in Manipur. Citing landmark Supreme Court decisions, including Kumari Madhuri Patil vs. Additional Commissioner (1994) and State of Maharashtra vs. Milind (2000), TIM insisted that appointments made using invalid ST certificates be nullified. It reiterated the state’s constitutional duty to establish a permanent ST Scrutiny Committee to rigorously verify tribal claims. Furthermore, TIM requested that this committee be empowered to operate as a time-bound Special Investigation Team (SIT) with the responsibilities to identify government employees appointed since 2003 using invalid ST certificates, recommend actions such as termination for those deemed ineligible, investigate the issuing authorities and recruiting departments for negligence, and propose comprehensive safeguards and standardized procedures to prevent the issuance of ST certificates to non-indigenous individuals or foreign nationals. TIM reasserted that Thadou is a distinct ethnic group and not part of the broader Kuki category. The organization emphasized that any entity portraying Thadou as a subset of Kuki is illegitimate and does not represent the Thadou people’s interests, as decided during the Thadou Convention 2024.
Original Source: https://nenow.in/north-east-news/manipur/thadou-inpi-manipur-urges-governor-to-form-permanent-st-scrutiny-committee.html
Category: Manipur,Northeast News,Top News
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Publish Date: 2025-12-28 14:05:00
