Tribal organisations of Assam opposing the granting of Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to six new communities in the state on Thursday submitted ''interim objections and suggestions'' to the state government, affirming that they are against any move that will dilute or hamper the protection enjoyed by their groups.

The Coordination Committee of Tribal Organisations of Assam (CCTOA), a conglomerate of more than 20 groups of various existing ST communities, also sought a tripartite meeting involving the state government and the Union home minister at a later stage to take forward the discussion.

A Group of Ministers (GoM) of the state government had submitted an interim report in the assembly last week with its recommendations on the demand for ST status by Ahom, Chutia, Moran, Matak, Koch-Raj

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