SHILLONG, MAY 23: The state government has made tribe certificate mandatory for areas under the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) in regards to the issuance of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes certificate in Meghalaya.
Social Welfare Minister Paul Lyngdoh said, “This concerns the applications for issuance of SC/ST certificates in the state of Meghalaya, where apart from what was listed in the guidelines for receipt and disposal of application, we have included one more clause which reads as follows: One of the items to be furnished would include number 4 (this is an addendum) tribe certificate from a competent authority for areas under KHADC shall be mandatory.”
“This was not included all along in spite of this tribe certificate being a valid legal document issued by KHADC. So in order for anybody to register themselves or claim or seek to be registered and to be issued with an ST certificate they should possess a tribe certificate issued by the KHADC as a pre condition,”he added.