West Bengal CM Says Kurmi Community to Stay Outside UCC, Vows to Withdraw Old Protest Cases

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said on Sunday that the Kurmi community would remain outside the ambit of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), and announced that cases registered against community members during protests under the previous Trinamool Congress government would be withdrawn.

The Kurmis are a prominent community in the State's Jangalmahal region. Currently classified as Other Backward Class, they have long demanded Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. During the previous government's tenure, members of the community organised road and railway blockades across parts of West Bengal to press for ST status and for the inclusion of the Kurmali language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution.

Mr. Adhikari also promised to push for constitutional recognition of the Kurmali and Rajbanshi languages. The State government, he said, would submit a "Further Common Justification Report" to the Centre in support of the community's inclusion in the ST list.

Speaking at a Karam festival programme in Purulia, the Chief Minister said several Kurmi leaders had approached him with the request to keep the community out of the UCC's scope. The State government has already committed to exempting STs from the proposed code and has set up a committee headed by former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Gopal Desai to work out the modalities for implementing the UCC in West Bengal.

Mr. Adhikari accused the previous administration of creating divisions within the Kurmi community and said his government would honour the commitments made in its election manifesto. He said the people of the region had voted for the BJP over the past several years and assured them that the region's language, diversity and natural resources would be protected.

Criticising the earlier government, he alleged it had been "selling hills" and promised that no natural resources would be auctioned during his tenure. He also announced an allocation of ₹50 crore for the Kurmi Development Board, adding that the amount would be increased if necessary.

Several members of the Kurmi community attended the festival, including prominent leader Ajit Mahato and Purulia BJP MP Jyotirmoy Singh Mahato.