Members from the Kurmi community in Jharkhand on Sunday withdrew a railway blockade that had been called to demand Scheduled Tribe status, after the Centre assured them of a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah to discuss the matter, PTI reported.

The protest had been organised by the Adivasi Kurmi Samaj, an umbrella Kurmi organisation, in West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha on Saturday.

Sheetal Ohdar, Adivasi Kurmi Samaj member and Kurmi Vikas Morcha central president, told the news agency on Sunday that an assurance had been received from Shah’s office on a meeting, but the date had not been allotted yet.

“In view of the development, we have decided to withdraw the agitation from all but two stations,” he said.

The agitation at the Sini railway station in Seraikela-Kharswan district will be withdrawn soon, Ohdar said, adding that the one at Pradhan Khanta in Dhanbad will continue till a date for the meeting is allotted.

Kurmis had been included among the communities classified as Scheduled Tribes in the 1931 Census, The Indian Express reported. However, it was excluded from the Scheduled Tribes list in 1950.

In 2004, the Jharkhand government recommended that the community be included in the Scheduled Tribes list, rather than classified as part of the Other Backward Classes.

The Adivasi Kurmi Samaj had called for the indefinite rail and road blockade in West Bengal’s Jhargram, Banukra, Paschim Medinipur and Purulia districts from Saturday, along with protests in parts of neighbouring Jharkhand and Odisha, to demand Scheduled Tribe status.

It also demanded the inclusion of the Kurmali language in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, which lists the official languages of India. There are presently 22 languages included in the Eighth Schedule.

On September 18, the Calcutta High Court described the rail and road blockade being organised by the Kurmis as “illegal and unconstitutional”, The Indian Express reported. There were no rail blockades in West Bengal amid tight security.

However, thousands of protestors in Jharkhand squatted on tracks at several stations in Muri, Rai, Tatisilwai stations in Ranchi district, Barkakana in Ramgarh, Parasnath in Giridih, Charhi in Hazaribag, Pradhan Khanta hanta in Dhanbad, Galudih in East Singhbhum and Chandrpura in Bokaro district on Saturday despite prohibitory orders, PTI reported.

The protests had led to cancellation, diversion and short-termination of more than 100 passenger trains on Saturday in the jurisdiction of the Ranchi division of South Eastern Railway and Dhanbad division of East Central Railway, an official told the news agency.

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