WHAT’S IN A NAME: The confusion requiring Subbas to start writing their surnames as Limboo

SUBASH RAI
GANGTOK, 05 March: The Yakthung Sapshok Songjumbo [Sikkim Limboo Literary Society] has often reiterated its appeal to members of the Limboo community to specify ‘Limboo’ as their surnames to the enumerators who call on them in connection with the ongoing Census 2011 operations. A majority of the community in the State uses ‘Subba’ as their surname and although the YSS has suggested that they write Limboo and add “Subba” in brackets, the Society’s president, SP Subba, adds that “Subba is just a title” and highlights that in the Government of India notification, only Limboo has been notified as a Scheduled Tribe. Writing Subba, he believes, could complicate matters, especially when it comes to calculating the number of “Limboos” in the State.

“The census figures will be evaluated in New Delhi and the evaluators there will not know that Subbas are Limboos,” Mr. Subba claimed when contacted by NOW! to explain his organisation’s appeal, adding, “This will automatically show the Limboo population as lower than what it actually is in Sikkim.”
He contended that this will in turn reduce the budget allocation set aside for the welfare of the Limboo community as STs in the state. His allusion is obviously to the “Tribal Fund”, but that will be calculated on the basis of the State’s ST population and those who write Subba as their name will be recorded as STs, hence the total number should not be affected.
But it is not as if there is not some complication when it comes to Limboos who write their surnames as Subba.
“Some of the students who had ST certificates with Subba as their surnames were refused ST quotas by institutions outside Sikkim on the argument that Limboos, and not Subbas have been accorded ST status. These students had to return to Sikkim and prepare affidavits recording that Subba and Limboo are the same,” Mr. Subba informs.
District Collectorate [East], D. Anandan, confirmed this and informed that this confusion has been reported and that students had to get such affidavits made.
The confusion obviously stems from ignorance about the Limboos outside Sikkim. What should also be borne in mind is that Subba is not the only other surname used by Limboos and while some have suggested that the Government of India notification including Limboos in the Scheduled Tribes List be expanded to explain that Subbas are Limboos, the nature of ignorance cannot be addressed through this option unless all Limboo surnames [and there are quite a few like Tsong, Yakthumba etc] are included in such a list.
Preparing such a list is not only impractical, but also ill advised because it does not address the situation adequately enough. Fact remains that official outside should understand that the Limboo community and not the Limboo name has been accorded tribal status. Not every person should be required to write the name of the community s/he belongs to as their surname just because some babu somewhere is too ignorant to understand things. An ST certificate issued from Sikkim, if it explains that the holder [irrespective of what surname s/he uses] is a Scheduled Tribe from the Limboo community should suffice.
As a permanent solution to this confusion, Mr. Subba, however suggests that the “Government of Sikkim bring out a notification stating that Subba, Tsong, Yakthumba etc. are all Limboos as was done when Limboos were under the OBC category.”
The DC however maintains that the State government has no role or jurisdiction in this because the matter [ST Notification] falls under the jurisdiction of the central government.
That being where things are placed, Mr. Subba explained that as the head of the community’s association in Sikkim, it was his duty to inform and advice the members in time.