Aizawl, Mar 11 (PTI) Nirupam Chakma who was appointed a member of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) was felicitated by Chakma District Bharatiya Janata Party (CDBJP) on Monday.

Chakma, 65, a former Mizoram minister and 5-times legislator was appointed as a member of the NCST by President Droupadi Murmu on March 8.

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He is the first person from the Chakma community to be appointed NCST member.

Leaders and party workers of Chakma District Bharatiya Janata Party (CDBJP) on Monday felicitated the newly appointed NCST member at his residence in Kamalanagar town in south Mizoram's Lawngtlai district.

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Nirupam Chakma is a sitting member of Chakma Autonomous District Council (CADC). He embarked on his political journey in 1987 when he was elected uncontested from the erstwhile Chawngte (ST) assembly constituency.

He was Mizoram minister of state for two consecutive terms between 1989 and 1998 during the erstwhile Congress government headed by former chief minister Lal Thanhawla and became the first minister from the Chakma community.

He joined the BJP in 2015 and unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha polls on the BJP ticket in 2019.

The CDBJP issued a press statement extending congratulations to Nirupam Chakma, who is also the president of CDBJP, for his appointment as a member of NCST.

It expressed hope that Nirupam Chakma would dedicate his efforts towards the welfare, development and upliftment of scheduled tribes and other minority communities across the country.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)