On 20 September 2022, Kurmi (also written Kudmi) organisations blocked railway tracks in Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha to demand Scheduled Tribe (ST) status and the inclusion of the Kurmali language in the Eighth Schedule. The blockade at Kustaur and Khemasuli stations in Bengal lasted 123 hours and led to the cancellation of more than 250 trains, according to South Eastern Railway (SER). A second round from 5 April 2023 cancelled about 500 trains, and in September 2023 the Calcutta High Court declared further blockades illegal. As of October 2026 the community is still listed as OBC and no ST decision has been announced.
Key takeaways
- Kurmi (Kudmi) groups in Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha, now listed as OBC, demand Scheduled Tribe status and the inclusion of Kurmali in the Eighth Schedule.
- The September 2022 rail roko lasted 123 hours at Kustaur and Khemasuli in West Bengal and cancelled more than 250 trains, per South Eastern Railway; an April 2023 round cancelled 496 more.
- On 19 September 2023 the Calcutta High Court held the Adibasi Kudmi Samaj's planned indefinite blockade "illegal and unconstitutional", and reaffirmed that view on 18 September 2025.
- Jharkhand recommended ST status in 2004, but the Centre turned it down in 2015 after the Tribal Research Institute opposed it, PTI reported. West Bengal says it has written to the Centre several times.
- Adivasi organisations oppose the demand and held counter-rallies in Ranchi in 2022 and 2025, saying Kurmis do not share tribal customs and would compete for reserved jobs, seats and land.
The demand and its history
Kurmis, also called Kudmis or Kudmi-Mahatos, are a farming community concentrated in the Chotanagpur plateau and the Jangalmahal districts of West Bengal (Purulia, Bankura, Jhargram and Paschim Medinipur). They are listed as Other Backward Classes (OBC) in West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha PTI via Deccan Herald. Their organisations make two core demands: inclusion in the ST list, and inclusion of Kurmali in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution PTI via Outlook. Some groups have also sought recognition of the Sarna religion PTI via Deccan Herald.
Claim · Adivasi Kurmi Samaj Harmohan Mahto, central spokesperson of the Adivasi Kurmi Samaj (AKS), said Kurmis were listed among aboriginal tribes in 1913 under British rule. "When the Centre notified ST list on September 6, 1950, Kurmis were put in the list of Other Backward Castes (OBC) in West Bengal, Bihar and Odisha," he said, and claimed the community numbers more than two crore in the three states PTI via Siasat. A Purulia lawyer told The Wire the community "was recognised as a Scheduled Tribe up to 1931" and lost that status in 1950 The Wire.
That history is contested. Reporting citing The Indian Express says Kurmis were not among the communities classified as STs in the 1931 Census and were excluded again in 1950 Scroll.
Under the procedure followed since 1999, a state government must propose a community; the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs, the Registrar General of India and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes then examine it before the Cabinet amends the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950 The Mooknayak.
September 2022: the first rail roko
The agitation began at 4 am on Tuesday, 20 September 2022, at stations in West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand. In Jharkhand and Odisha the tracks were cleared the same day, but at Kustaur in Purulia district (Adra division) and Khemasuli in Paschim Medinipur (Kharagpur division) protesters stayed on the tracks and also blocked National Highway 6 PTI via Outlook.
On the first day SER cancelled 18 trains, diverted 13 and short-terminated or short-originated 11. In Odisha, protesters blocked tracks at Bhanjpur station in Baripada, Anlajodi in Rairangpur and Betnoti, halting two trains at Bhanjpur for three hours, before withdrawing on an assurance from the local administration The Indian Tribal.
By the fourth day, truck drivers stranded on NH 6 said they were running out of food, PTI reported PTI via Outlook.
The blockade ended at 7 am on Sunday, 25 September. "The 123-hour-long blockade at Kustaur and Khemasuli stations since 4 am on September 20 was withdrawn at 7 am on Sunday," an SER official told PTI, adding that more than 250 express and passenger trains had been cancelled PTI via ETV Bharat The Wire.
Leader Ajit Prasad Mahato said the withdrawal followed talks with the Purulia District Magistrate and that the state had agreed to correct alleged errors in the Cultural Research Institute's (CRI) ethnographic report on Kurmis, sent to the Centre on 23 September. Rajesh Mahato, who led the Khemasuli protest, said he had not been told what was agreed, the Times of India reported The Wire.
April 2023: the second round
Kudmi Samaj West Bengal blocked NH 6 at Khemasuli from 6 am on 4 April 2023. From 5 am on 5 April, the Adivasi Kudmi Samaj and others blocked the tracks at Khemasuli and Kustaur again PTI via Outlook PTI via Outlook.
SER cancelled 46 express and passenger trains on 5 April and said 158 had been cancelled by 6 April. Later daily figures reported by PTI and Deccan Herald ranged from 64 to 95, and SER put the total at 496 cancellations since 5 April in a statement on 8 April PTI via Outlook Deccan Herald PTI via Outlook.
Among the cancelled trains were the Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani, the Howrah-Mumbai Gitanjali and the Howrah-Pune Duronto PTI via Outlook PTI via Outlook. SER said "the reasons of the agitations are not related to Railways" Deccan Herald. Hundreds of vehicles were again stranded on NH 6 PTI via Outlook.
Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari (BJP) wrote that "Large parts of WB is out of state administration's control" Deccan Herald. SER said the rail blockade was withdrawn on Sunday, 9 April. The highway blockade was relaxed on 10 April after the state invited Kurmi Samaj West Bengal to a meeting on 11 April; PTI put the total at around 500 trains cancelled PTI via Deccan Herald IANS via Morung Express. The 11 April meeting at Nabanna did not settle the demand, The Mooknayak reported The Mooknayak.
The Calcutta High Court orders
Ahead of a third indefinite blockade called from 20 September 2023, the Purulia Chamber of Trade and Industry and another petitioner filed public interest litigations. The petitioners said the September 2022 and April 2023 protests had caused the railways losses of Rs 60 crore SCC Online.
On 19 September 2023, a bench of Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya held that the protest "scheduled to be held from 20th September, 2023 is illegal and unconstitutional", relying on rulings that treat road and rail blockades as forms of bandh Verdictum. It directed the state to deploy extra forces, if needed from neighbouring states, and noted that a court cannot order a community's inclusion in the ST list SCC Online.
We are of the prima facie view that the Samaj and its members cannot hold innocent citizens to ransom by seeking to hold an indefinite protest by blocking the railways and the roadways.
Calcutta High Court, Purulia Chamber of Trade & Industry v. State of West Bengal, 19 September 2023 (SCC Online)
The AKS withdrew the Bengal blockade. Leader Ajit Mahato said it was called off "as our senior leaders are being harassed by police" PTI via ETV Bharat. Groups in Jharkhand went ahead on 20 September. East Coast Railway reported protests at Manoharpur near Chakradharpur, at Gomoh and near Muri. Police used lathis near Nimdih, and about 500 people were stopped short of Muri station, where prohibitory orders had been imposed PTI via Orissa Post.
On 18 September 2025, a bench headed by Justice Sujoy Paul said there were no new circumstances to justify a different view and directed the state to follow the 2023 order LawTrend IANS via The Mooknayak.
Timeline
First rail roko
Blockades begin in three states. They end the same day everywhere except Kustaur and Khemasuli PTI.
Blockade lifted after 123 hours
More than 250 trains have been cancelled, says SER PTI.
Second blockade
496 trains are cancelled by 8 April. The tracks are cleared on 9 April Deccan Herald.
High Court ruling
The Calcutta High Court declares the indefinite blockade call illegal Verdictum.
Third major round
Blockades take place across Jharkhand, and there is a clash at Kotshila in Purulia. The protest is withdrawn on 21 September after the Centre promises a meeting with Amit Shah Scroll.
What the state governments and the Centre say
Jharkhand In 2004 the Arjun Munda government sent a cabinet recommendation to include Kurmis in the ST list. The Raghubar Das government later wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking that the status quo be kept The Indian Tribal. The matter was referred to the Tribal Research Institute, which concluded that Kurmis are a sub-caste of Kunbis and not a tribe. The Centre then rejected the demand The Mooknayak; PTI dates that rejection to 2015 PTI via Deccan Herald.
West Bengal On 6 February 2021, the state's Tribal Development Department asked the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs to have the Anthropological Survey of India review "around 81 reported clans" in the community. It enclosed the CRI's ethnographic report and said the state would make its recommendation after that study West Bengal Tribal Development Department letter (via WBXPress). Trinamool MLA Birbaha Hansda said the CRI report had been sent to the Centre in 2017 The Wire. In May 2023 Mamata Banerjee said her government had written to the Centre four times PTI via Deccan Herald. The Trinamool's 2024 manifesto promised to "actively work with the Centre" on the demand PTI via Deccan Herald.
Claim · Kurmi leaders Kurmi leaders allege that the CRI has not recognised them as a tribe and that the state never sent a "comprehensive and accurate" report The Federal IANS.
Centre No Union government decision granting or refusing ST status after 2015 was found in the reporting reviewed. In September 2025, AKS member Sheetal Ohdar said the blockade was withdrawn after an assurance from Amit Shah's office of a meeting, with no date fixed Scroll.
Both accounts
Kurmi organisations' account
Kurmi groups say they were tribal before 1950 and were wrongly left out of the ST list. They say decades of petitions have not moved the state or the Centre. "For 73 years, we have been victims of deception," said Ajit Mahato The Wire. Sheetal Ohdar said in 2025 that they were protesting on the tracks "in a peaceful manner" PTI via Business Standard. Ranchi journalist Utkarsh Mishra writes that the demand is less about quota size than about ST land protections and reserved constituencies in Scheduled Areas Countercurrents.
Adivasi organisations' account
Many recognised tribes oppose the demand. At the 27 September 2022 Ranchi sit-in, attended by Salkhan Murmu and former minister Geeta Oraon, speakers said Kurmis are Hindus whose customs, religion and culture differ from Adivasis' Forward Press. Murmu, of the Adivasi Sengel Abhiyan, warned the change would let Kurmis dominate elections, jobs and land The Mooknayak. "Kurmis have every right to make their demand but we oppose it," said Samai Hansda of the Santhal body Bharat Jakat Majhi Pargana Mahal PTI via Deccan Herald.
Opposition also reached the streets. The United Forum of All Tribal Organisations staged a blockade on 8 June 2023 The Wire. On 12 October 2025, the Adivasi Astitva Bachao Morcha, with Gladson Dungdung and Ajay Tirkey among its organisers, held a rally at Morhabadi in Ranchi. It said ST status for Kudmis would affect tribal identity, rights and reservation 22Scope. Opponents also argue Kurmis do not meet the Lokur Committee criteria used to identify STs Countercurrents.
September 2025 and the Kotshila arrests
After a pause in election year 2024 News Arena, on 20 September 2025, protesters defied prohibitory orders and sat on the tracks at Muri, Rai, Tatisilwai, Barkakana, Parasnath, Charhi, Pradhan Khanta, Galudih and Chandrapura in Jharkhand. More than 100 passenger trains were cancelled, diverted or short-terminated in the Ranchi and Dhanbad divisions, an official told PTI. There were no rail blockades in West Bengal amid tight security Scroll. AJSU and JLKM chief Jairam Mahato backed the protest PTI via Business Standard News Arena.
At Kotshila in Purulia, villagers blocked the tracks on the afternoon of 20 September after arrests that morning, and clashed with police. Five police personnel were hurt and several protesters were seriously injured. Police arrested 51 people, who spent 33 days in jail before getting bail The Wire.
Claim · Villagers Several of those arrested told The Wire they had never taken part in the movement and were picked up at home or on the road. Claim · Some villagers Some residents alleged that AKS leaders urged people to block the line and then stayed in the background The Wire. No police response to these allegations was found in the sources reviewed.
Outcome
- Trains: More than 250 cancelled in September 2022 and 496 to about 500 in April 2023, per SER, plus more than 100 cancelled, diverted or short-terminated on 20 September 2025, per a railway official.
- Road: NH 6 blocked for days in 2022 and 2023, stranding hundreds of trucks and buses.
- Losses: Petitioners in the High Court put railway losses from the 2022 and 2023 protests at Rs 60 crore. A June 2023 Mooknayak report cited losses above Rs 1,700 crore without naming its source The Mooknayak. Neither figure was confirmed by the railways in the sources reviewed.
- Court: Calcutta High Court declared indefinite blockades illegal on 19 September 2023 and reaffirmed this on 18 September 2025.
- Arrests: 51 after the Kotshila clash in September 2025, per The Wire.
- ST status: Not granted. Kurmis remain OBC in all three states.
Where it stands in 2026
Before the 2026 West Bengal Assembly election, AKS adviser Ajit Mahato said the community had decided not to vote for the Trinamool because of the state's "lack of sincerity". He gave the BJP an ultimatum to include Kudmali in the Eighth Schedule The Federal.
The Wire reported in June 2026 that Ajit Mahato had met Amit Shah before the election. BJP state committee member Sripati Mahato confirmed the meeting and said Shah had assured that the language demand would be considered. A large part of the community then backed the BJP, which won across the Assembly seats of Bankura and Purulia districts. Ajit Mahato's son Biswajit was elected from Joypur. The new BJP-led state government announced a review of administrative action over Kotshila, and former Purulia SP Vaibhab Tewary said the review had begun The Wire.
As of October 2026, no notification adding Kurmis to the ST list, and no amendment adding Kurmali to the Eighth Schedule, had been reported. The 2026 Census has opened a new front: Kurmi groups want "Adivasi" recorded as their religion, which established tribal groups contest Countercurrents.
Questions people ask
Why are Kurmis demanding Scheduled Tribe status?
Kurmi (Kudmi) groups say the community was recorded as tribal in British-era records and wrongly left out of the ST list in 1950. The Centre rejected Jharkhand's 2004 recommendation in 2015, and no later decision had been reported as of October 2026.
How many trains were cancelled in the Kurmi rail roko?
SER said more than 250 trains were cancelled during the 123-hour blockade in September 2022 and 496 from 5 to 8 April 2023. PTI put the April total at around 500. On 20 September 2025 more than 100 trains were cancelled, diverted or short-terminated in Jharkhand, per a railway official.
Did the Calcutta High Court ban the Kurmi blockade?
On 19 September 2023 the court held that the Adibasi Kudmi Samaj's indefinite rail and road blockade was "illegal and unconstitutional" and directed the state to prevent it. A different bench reaffirmed this on 18 September 2025. The court said it could not order inclusion in the ST list itself.
Why do adivasi groups oppose the Kurmi demand?
Groups such as Adivasi Sengel Abhiyan, Bharat Jakat Majhi Pargana Mahal and Adivasi Astitva Bachao Morcha say Kurmis do not share tribal customs or religion. They also say adding them would increase competition for reserved jobs, seats and protected land.
Sources
- PTI via ETV Bharat: Kurmi blockade withdrawn after five days, 25 Sept 2022
- The Wire: Bengal, after 5 days of rail blockades, Kurmis pause agitation for ST status, 25 Sept 2022
- PTI via Outlook: Kurmis continue blocking railway tracks, highway, 23 Sept 2022
- The Indian Tribal: Kurmis intensify demand for ST status, 20 Sept 2022
- Forward Press: Kurmis of Jharkhand, Bengal and Odisha demand ST status, Oct 2022
- PTI via Outlook: Kurmi organisations block train tracks and NH 6, 5 Apr 2023
- PTI via Outlook: 85 trains cancelled, hundreds of vehicles stranded, 6 Apr 2023
- PTI via Outlook: Kurmi stir for ST tag enters sixth day, 9 Apr 2023
- Deccan Herald: Around 500 SER trains cancelled in four days, 9 Apr 2023
- PTI via Deccan Herald: Kurmis relax road blockade on NH 6, 10 Apr 2023
- IANS via Morung Express: Bengal Kurmis withdraw road-rail blockade, 10 Apr 2023
- The Mooknayak: Demand for ST status roils West Bengal politics, 17 May 2023
- PTI via Deccan Herald: Bengal govt to write to Centre seeking ST status for Kurmis, 18 May 2023
- The Wire: Kurmi agitation in Jungle Mahal, 2023
- The Mooknayak: Kudmi-Mahato demand ahead of 2024 election, 12 June 2023
- PTI via Siasat: Nine trains cancelled, eight diverted due to Kurmi stir, 19 Sept 2023
- Verdictum: Adibasi Kudmi Samaj protest unconstitutional, Calcutta HC, Sept 2023
- SCC Online: Indefinite protest blocking railways and roadways illegal, 20 Sept 2023
- PTI via ETV Bharat: Kurmis withdraw proposed rail blockade, 20 Sept 2023
- PTI via Orissa Post: Trains cancelled, diverted despite claims of end to stir, 20 Sept 2023
- PTI via Deccan Herald: BJP, TMC tread cautiously in Jhargram, 5 May 2024
- West Bengal Tribal Development Department: Letter No. STDD-05/21 on inclusion of Kurmi community (via WBXPress), 6 Feb 2021
- IANS via The Mooknayak: Calcutta HC asks Bengal govt to follow 2023 order, 18 Sept 2025
- LawTrend: Calcutta High Court declares Kudmi Samaj's Purulia protest illegal, 19 Sept 2025
- PTI via Business Standard: Rail blockade by Kurmis hits Jharkhand train services, 20 Sept 2025
- News Arena: Kurmi community halts trains in Jharkhand, 20 Sept 2025
- Scroll: Kurmi community withdraws stir after Centre's assurance, 21 Sept 2025
- 22Scope: Adivasi Astitva Bachao Morcha rally against Kurmi ST demand (Hindi), Oct 2025
- The Federal: Kudmi test continues for TMC in Jangalmahal, 5 Mar 2026
- Countercurrents: Who counts as Adivasi? The Kurmi agitation, 16 June 2026
- The Wire: A year after rail blockade unrest in Purulia, 28 June 2026