Train services were disrupted in pockets of three tribal- dominated districts of West Bengal — Bankura, Purulia and West Midnapore — following rail-blockade agitation by the Kurmi community on Wednesday.
The Kurmi community is agitating in support of its long-standing demand for recognition under the Schedule Tribe category. Their main grievance is that West Bengal Cultural Research Institute, a state government body that works for indigenous tribes, is yet to recognise the Kurmis as representatives of primitive tribes.
Representatives of the community alleged that the reluctance of the institute or the state government to send a comprehensive report in the matter to the Union government is holding back the process of recognition of the Kurmi community under the Scheduled Tribe category.
