Maharashtra Panel to Decide ST Benefits for Those Who Convert Religion
The Maharashtra government has constituted a 27-member committee to examine whether Scheduled Tribe (ST) members who convert to another religion should continue to receive reservation and other government benefits. This move reopens a politically and constitutionally sensitive issue that has been raised by RSS-affiliated organisations and sections of the BJP.
A Government Resolution (GR) issued by the state's Tribal Development Department on July 16 states that the committee, headed by Tribal Development Minister Ashok Uike, will examine the constitutional and legal position governing reservation and welfare benefits for STs after religious conversion. It will also study the approach followed by the Centre and other states and recommend a policy for Maharashtra. The GR does not specify a deadline for the committee to submit its recommendations.
The issue is legally distinct from that of Scheduled Castes (SCs). While SC reservation is linked to religion under the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950, there is no such restriction for STs. Under Article 342 of the Constitution, STs continue to be recognised as STs irrespective of the religion they profess.
The question has featured in the Sangh Parivar's tribal outreach agenda. In May this year, the Janjatiya Suraksha Manch (JSM), backed by the RSS-affiliated Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, submitted memoranda to President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking the 'delisting' of STs who convert to another religion. It argued that those who give up traditional tribal faith, customs and culture after conversion should no longer be entitled to ST benefits. It also sought amendments to the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950, a statutory definition of 'Scheduled Tribe', and stronger anti-conversion laws.
Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Tokhan Sahu (BJP) told The Indian Express in an interview in August 2024: 'We have never told anyone to convert. But the Congress has always pushed religious conversion in the interest of vote-bank politics. Why should those who have converted get the benefit of that (ST) community?'
The matter assumes significance in Maharashtra, where STs account for 9.35% of the state's population. According to the 2011 Census, the ST population grew from 85.77 lakh in 2001 to over 1.05 crore, across several faiths. While 97.2% of STs identified as Hindus, the Census recorded 1.13 lakh Muslims, over 20,000 Christians, nearly 21,000 Buddhists, and smaller numbers of Sikhs and Jains. Between 2001 and 2011, the Muslim ST population grew by 49.1%, Buddhist STs by 114.8%, and Jains nearly six-fold, while the Christian ST population declined by 34.8%.
The committee will be chaired by Ashok Uike and includes Minister of State for Tribal Development Indranil Naik, Food and Drug Administration Minister Narhari Zirwal, MLAs representing ST constituencies, and the Commissioner of the Tribal Research and Training Institute (TRTI), Pune, as member secretary. The move follows an assurance given by the state government during the 2025 Monsoon Session of the Assembly, after BJP legislators raised allegations of religious conversions among tribals in Nandurbar district.
