Nandyal MP Byreddy Shabari renewed the long-pending demand for granting Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the Boya-Valmiki community, urging the Central government to introduce a Bill and ‘deliver long-awaited justice’.
The TDP MP raised the issue during the Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha, on Wednesday. Ms. Shabari said that the community, historically known as forest hunters and now largely dependent on forest produce and agriculture, remained socially, educationally and economically backward. She opined that the community was unjustly listed under the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871, and that the Deputy Registrar General of India had recommended its inclusion in the ST list, as early as 1961.
Highlighting that in 2017, under the leadership of then Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly and the Legislative Council unanimously passed a resolution seeking ST status for the Boyas.
The MP pointed out that neighbouring States of Karnataka and Telangana had already recognised Boya-Valmikis as STs. She said that any further delay in the inclusion of the community in the list would only escalate the injustice to them.
Published – December 03, 2025 07:36 pm IST
