Jharkhand Erupts with Kudmi Protests for ST Status
Kudmi protests in Jharkhand on Saturday (Image X.com)
Arrival of Jairam Mahto in Jharkhand politics has provided a fresh push for the demand of Kudmi community demands for the ST status.
By AMIT KUMAR
RANCHI, September 20, 2025 — Kudmi protests on Saturday brought rail services in Jharkhand to a standstill. Activists pressing for inclusion of Kudmi caste in the scheduled tribe category brought train services to halt, leaving passengers stranded.
Kudmi activists have been pressing for the inclusion in the ST category in Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Assam. Jharkhand M LA and Jharkhand Loktantrik Kranti Morcha (JLKM) Jairam Kumar Mahto extended support to the agitation of the Kudmi activists.
“In the movement for the acceptance of the rights of the Kudmi community, I extended my support and took part in the agitation at the Parasnath station,” posted Mahto on X. He also shared images of the protests at several railway stations.
The Kudmi activists claim that the state government and the Centre have been denying their “rightful claims for the inclusion in the ST category.” Prabhat Mahto, a Kudmi activist, claimed on X that “preparations had been made to mobilise four crore Kudmi population in three states to hold protests at 100 railway stations.”
The rail officials told local reporters that several interstate trains had been affected due to the agitations. “Passengers were provided with bus services to reach their respective destinations,” a rail official in Ranchi told reporters.
With the emergence of the JLKM as an assertive political outfit in Jharkhand, the Kudmi activists for past few months have intensified their demands for inclusion in the ST category. The Kudmi caste currently is in the other backward castes (OBCs).
Mahto had visited teat gardens of Assam last year to take stock of the situation of the Kudmi community members in the state who mostly work on tea gardens. In Assam, the Kudmi and other workers who had migrated during the British Rule are categorised in T-tribe without the status of the ST. Political parties promise for inclusion of the T-tribe in the ST category during elections.
But the arrival of Jairam Mahto in Jharkhand politics has provided a fresh push for the demand of Kudmi community demands for the ST status. In Jharkhand, the Kudmi roughly constitutes 12% of the population of the state. The community is known to be a formidable electoral constituency in the Chota Nagpur region of Jharkhand.
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