KATHMANDU: Constituent Assembly members on Monday suggested including the name and number of minority and marginalised communities in the new constitution.

The CA has been discussing on the initial draft of the content of the new constitution prepared by the CA Committee to Protect Rights of Minorities and Marginalised Communities from yesterday. The discussion will also continue tomorrow.

The lawmakers opposed the provision of forming a commission to identify such communities. "If the task of identifying such communities is left for later (after the promulgation of the constitution), it would be a betrayal to them," the lawmakers said.

Suresh Kumar Ale Magar of Unified CPN-Maoist commented that the committee's name was not appropriate as the term 'minority' does not represent the groups which are forcefully made backward. "Since no communities, caste and languages are in majority, we should not use the term 'minority' in the constitution," he said. He also said the population of Brahmins, often touted as the privileged caste, was only 12 per cent and many of them were underprivileged. "Backwardness, poverty and remote areas should be made bases while specifying rights to underprivileged groups," he noted.

Jagadish Narsingh KC of Nepali Congress said the definition of minority and marginalised communities in the constitution had to be made more precise. Agni Kharel of the CPN-UML suggested consulting with the representatives of minority and marginalised groups before specifying rights for them. He also said such communities should be identified before the final draft of the constitution is ready. CA member Brijesh Kumar Gupta suggested specifying certain duration (years) for reservation to the minority and marginalised communities until they come at par with people of other communities.