The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Uttar Pradesh has included 17 Other Backward Castes (OBC) castes in the Scheduled Castes (SC) list. The castes that have been added into the SC list are — Nishad, Bind, Mallah, Kewat, Kashyap, Bhar, Dhivar, Batham, Machua, Prajapati, Rajbhar, Kahar, Pottar, Dhimar, Manjhi, Tuhaha and Gaur.
The decision was taken on Friday night. Authorities have been directed to issue caste certificate to families belonging to these 17 castes. People of these castes will now get the benefits of reservation and other facilities on a par with other SC castes. This is also the fulfillment of a 15-year-old demand by these 17 castes.
This is the third time when the state government has taken a decision to include 17 OBC castes into the SC list. Previously, the SP governments had attempted to include all these 17 castes into the SC category but failed to do so due to legal intervention.
The first attempt was made in 2004 by Mulayam Singh Yadav. The then SP government amended the UP Public Services Act, 1994, to move 17 OBC castes to the SC category. However, the decision proved futile because the state government had not sought the Centre’s permission. As per the rules, the power to declare any caste as SC rests with the Centre and a state needs to discuss the same at length with the Centre before taking any such decision.
The Allahabad High Court quashed the Mulayam Singh government’s decision and declared it unconstitutional and void.
The second attempt was made in 2012 when Akhilesh Yadav came to power. A high-level committee headed by the then Chief Secretary Jawed Usmani had sought details from the department of social welfare in this regard. The circular from the chief secretary in March 2012 spoke about the inclusion of these castes into the SC bracket, However, it was rejected by the then Central government.
When BSP supremo Mayawati came to power, she opposed the idea and demanded increase in SC quota from the present 21%.