The Arunachal Pradesh government is taking steps to uplift the Puroik community, a tribe that has traditionally been slaves, and bringing them at par with other communities of the state, Social Justice and Empowerment and Tribal Affairs Minister Alo Libang said on Tuesday.
Responding to a short-duration discussion by JD(U) MLA Hayeng Mangfi in the Assembly on the backwardness of the community, Libang admitted that Puroiks are being subjected to social and economic discrimination.
He said awareness would be generated among people so that Puroiks are freed from bonded labour.
The minister informed the House that the state government had constituted the Puroik Welfare Board in 2017.
He said the state government has imparted vocational training to 80 members of the community and jobs were given to eight of them.
"We are constructing one boys and a girls hostel for Puroiks with intake strength of 50 students each. The state government is planning to provide Rs 2 lakh grant each to 120 members of the community for starting businesses," he said.
Libang said five Puroik girls have been sent to Karnataka to undergo GNM (General Nursing and Midwifery) course and will be recruited soon.
The minister appealed to the legislators of the Puroik-inhabited districts to make efforts to ensure that they are not mistreated by other communities.
He also asked the MLAs to forward suggestions on ways to improve the condition of Puroiks and provide them with a platform so that members of the community could contest in panchayat elections.
The Puroiks, earlier called as Sulungs, are one of the indigenous tribes of the state and have a total population of 8,977 as per latest census data.
They are spread over East Kameng, West Kameng, Kurung Kumey, Kra Daadi and Papum Pare districts.
Initiating the discussion, Mangfi said the Puroiks are being suppressed politically, socially and economically.
"They are being treated like animals and they can be sold and bought for domestic and other needs," he said.
The JD(U) member said the community does not even have voting rights and only 34 Puroiks have so far been employed in the government sector.
Though slavery was officially banned in 1976, it reportedly still exists in some parts of the state because of which the livelihood of Puroiks has been affected, Mangfi said.
"Though Puroiks were settled in Naharlagun and other places as per recommendations of a high-powered committee constituted by the state government, their houses were forcefully taken by other communities or bought at throwaway prices," he said.
Mangfi suggested that the state government should settle the Puroiks by properly demarcating their lands besides providing them healthcare, education and other facilities.
He also suggested that members of the community be given reservation in Group C and D category jobs.
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