Union Minister Suresh Gopi at the Parliament House complex. File
| Photo Credit: PTI

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP and Union Minister Suresh Gopi kicked up a controversy on Sunday (February 2, 2025) by stating that an upper caste person should be made the Minister for Tribal Affairs and a person from a backward caste should be made the Minister for empowerment of the upper caste. 

After receiving flak, he later said that he only had “good intentions”, but if people were not satisfied with his explanation, then he is withdrawing his statement.

 While campaigning for the BJP for the Delhi Assembly election in Mayur Vihar of east Delhi, which has a significant population of people from Kerala, Mr. Gopi said, “This is another curse of our country that a non-tribal person cannot be the Minister for Tribal Affairs. It is my wish and dream that an upper caste person should become the tribal affairs minister for the empowerment (of the tribal community). If there is a tribal person, who is supposed to become tribal affairs minister, the person should be made the minister for the empowerment of the upper caste community. This change should happen in our democratic system.”

“Let a Brahmin or Naidu look after affairs of tribals, there will be a big change. I have made this request to Modi ji, but there are certain customs for these things,” he said.

Mr. Gopi also said that since he became a Rajya Sabha MP in 2016, he has been requesting Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he doesn’t want the civil aviation portfolio and to give him the tribal affairs portfolio instead.

After his comments kicked up a controversy, Mr. Gopi clarified on Sunday, “I had said that an upper caste person should come to look after the affairs of tribals and a person from a backward community should look after the problems of the upper caste… I had good intentions only and I only said that we should break away from the current system. But if you think even my explanation is not correct, then I’m withdrawing it. Continue like this only.” 

The Delhi Assembly election is scheduled for February 5 and results will be declared on February 8. 

New Delhi/Thiruvananthapuram:

Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Suresh Gopi on Sunday courted a controversy by stating that the members of the “upper castes” should handle the tribal affairs portfolio.

Facing backlash over his remarks, Mr Gopi later backtracked, claiming that his statement was made with good intentions.

Speaking at a BJP election campaign meeting in New Delhi, the actor-turned-politician said that real progress in tribal welfare would only be possible if leaders from “upper castes” oversaw the ministry.

“It’s a curse of our country that only a person from the tribal community can be made the minister for tribal affairs,” said Mr Gopi, who also holds the Tourism portfolio.

“It is my dream and expectation that someone from outside the tribal community should be appointed for their welfare. Let a Brahmin or a Naidu take charge-there would be significant change. Likewise, tribal leaders should be given the portfolio for the welfare of forward communities.” “Such a shift should happen within our democratic system,” Mr Gopi further stated.

Expressing his desire to handle the tribal affairs portfolio, the Thrissur MP said he had requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to allocate the ministry to him. “However, there are certain precedents in portfolio allocations,” he added.

Mr Gopi’s remarks triggered widespread criticism across Kerala.

CPI state secretary Benoy Viswam lashed out at Mr Gopi, calling him a “piper of the chaturvarna” (caste system), and demanded his removal from the Union ministry.

He also urged the resignation of Union Minister of State George Kurian, accusing him of disregarding federal principles and insulting Kerala.

Mr Kurian on Saturday said that the state should declare itself backward in education, infrastructure, and social welfare to receive more funds from the Centre.

“These two ministers are living examples of the challenges facing the Indian Constitution under the RSS-led BJP regime,” Mr Viswam said, urging the President- the custodian of the Constitution- to take the matter seriously.

He also demanded that the BJP should clarify its stance on these two ministers’ statements, which he termed anti-tribal and anti-Kerala.

Prominent tribal leader C K Janu also strongly condemned Gopi’s remarks, calling them “low-class” and evidence of his lack of understanding.

Currently, BJP leader Jual Oram, a prominent tribal face from Odisha, handles the Tribal Affairs portfolio in the Modi-led cabinet. 

Amid criticisms, Mr Gopi withdrew his remarks, saying: “If my comment is not well received or if this explanation is unsatisfactory, I withdraw my remarks.”

He clarified that his intention was to end discrimination.

“I did not label anyone as good or bad; my only aim was to break free from this framework,” Mr Gopi said, adding that as a politician, his priority has always been the welfare of the tribal community.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

This microscope photo provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows crescent-shaped red blood cells from a sickle cell disease patient.
| Photo Credit: AP

India is getting closer to developing a gene therapy for sickle cell disease, a genetic blood disorder with a high prevalence rate among the Scheduled Tribes, officials of the Union Tribal Affairs Ministry said on June 19.

Vibhu Nayyar, Secretary, of the Tribal Affairs Ministry, said the government was expecting to hear “good news” by January 2025 on the laboratory tests that are being run. M. Srinivas, Director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), said researchers were working to develop a gene therapy using CRISPR-Cas9, a gene-editing tool.

“We want that in the next six months to one year, we will be able to go forward with using this method for treating SCD — making India one of the first countries to do so,” Mr. Srinivas said.

He was speaking at the National Conclave on Generating Awareness on Sickle Cell Disease, organised by the Tribal Affairs Ministry in collaboration with the Birsa Munda Centre at the AIIMS.

Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram, addressing the opening of the conclave, lauded the efforts but said it was important to involve and coordinate with ground-level healthcare workers such as ASHAs and Anganwadi workers for these plans to be implemented properly.

“They will be the ones doing the heavy lifting on the ground,” Mr. Oram said.

Officials of the Tribal Affairs Ministry told The Hindu that the “good news” Mr. Nayyar was referring to was related to the tests that are currently being run by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research–Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (CSIR-IGIB).

“Following this, the tests will proceed to the next phase and eventually move on to being tested on patients,” a senior official said.

This comes months after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the CRISPR-Cas9 technology for a cell-based gene therapy to treat sickle cell disease in December 2023.

Officials of the Tribal Affairs Ministry said one of the main challenges for India was to find a way to make this therapy cost-effective.

Developing a gene therapy using CRISPR has been part of India’s mission to eradicate sickle cell disease by 2047. A government dossier on the mission, which was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July 2023, said the technology had “the potential to be a single dose cure for blood disorders like sickle cell anaemia”.

Part of this mission is to also conduct over seven crore screenings among vulnerable tribal populations across 17 States and Union Territories, of which three crore screenings have been achieved so far, Ministry officials said.

The CRISPR-Cas9 system consists of an enzyme that behaves like molecular scissors which can be directed to cut a piece of DNA at a precise location. This will then allow a guide RNA to insert a changed genetic code at the sites of the incision. While there are a few ways to effect such changes, the CRISPR system is believed to be fast and the most versatile of all.

Addressing the gathering of doctors, experts, and healthcare professionals, Mr. Oram said the Union government was committed to working on the sickle cell disease eradication mission and called for officials from across Ministries and departments to ensure that grassroots workers were roped in for the implementation process and that they should themselves engage with them.

Following the addresses by senior officials and the Minister, a series of technical panel discussions were also held on recognising and screening for sickle cell disease, managing the disease, and other issues. Officials said district centres at nearly 350 districts across the country were taking part in the conclave virtually.

Apart from the gene therapy being developed by India, the sickle cell disease eradication mission also includes developing two coded formulations — AYUSH-RP and AYUSH-SC3 — for managing the disease through a systemic drug development process, for which continued testing will be undertaken by the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research.