As Centre rejects UP’s OBC inclusion bid, spotlight back on social justice report - Hindustan Times
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As Centre rejects UP’s OBC inclusion bid, spotlight back on social justice report

Hindustan Times, Lucknow | By, Lucknow
Jul 02, 2019 06:09 PM IST

The Centre’s rejection of Yogi Adityanath government’s decision to fulfil the 15-year-old demand of including 17 OBC sub-castes in the Scheduled Caste (SC) category has brought the spotlight back on the Social Justice Committee report (2018) which has been gathering dust for nearly a year.

The Centre’s rejection of Yogi Adityanath government’s decision to fulfil the 15-year-old demand of including 17 OBC sub-castes in the Scheduled Caste (SC) category has brought the spotlight back on the Social Justice Committee report (2018) which has been gathering dust for nearly a year.

In the past, both Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) governments have tried to push for the inclusion of OBC sub-castes, that make up for 14 per cent of the state’s electorate, but the move was rejected by the Centre.(Representative image)
In the past, both Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) governments have tried to push for the inclusion of OBC sub-castes, that make up for 14 per cent of the state’s electorate, but the move was rejected by the Centre.(Representative image)

In the past, both Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) governments have tried to push for the inclusion of OBC sub-castes, that make up for 14 per cent of the state’s electorate, but the move was rejected by the Centre.

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Asked about the Centre’s rejection of the UP government’s move, state social welfare minister Ramapati Shastri said, “I am yet to hear of the Centre’s decision but we acted in compliance to the orders of the high court.”

“We will look into the reasons of rejection,” he added.

Asked if the state would consider implementing the social justice committee report of 2018, he said, “We will seek the Centre’s nod on this. There is some litigation as well. The basic intention behind our move is to help the poorest of the poor.”

In the state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) too, some leaders had been indicating that the inclusion of OBC sub-castes, which were among the most backward castes (MBCs), in the SC fold could anger dalits, a sentiment that UP-based Arakshan Bachao Sangharsh Samiti chief Awadhesh Verma had been attempting to exploit.

He had demanded that the SC quota be raised to 36 per cent before the implementation of the decision.

“If this is not done, we will oppose the inclusion because those 17 OBC sub-castes will eat into the existing 21 per cent SC quota. The OBC sub-castes comprise nearly 14 per cent of the state’s electorate,” Verma said.

Now, BJP’s former ally, the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), comprising mainly of Rajbhars, which is among the 17 OBC sub-castes, has demanded the implementation of the Social Justice Committee’s report without any delay.

Interestingly, BJP ally Apna Dal has opposed the committee’s report.

In 2018, the Social Justice Committee had recommended division of OBC sub-castes into three categories – pichhda, ati-pichhda and sarvadhik pichhda (backward, very backward and most backward).

While 12 sub-castes were kept in backward category, 59 were put in very backward and 79 in most backward -- each expected to be allotted 9 per cent reservation of the total 27 per cent allotted for the OBCs.

A similar recommendation was made for dalits under which they were divided into three categories with four dalit sub-castes put in dalit category, 31 under ati-dalit and 46 under mahadalit, with 7 per cent reservation for the first two categories and the highest 8.5 per cent for Mahadalits under the total of 22.5 dalit quota.

The UP government is yet to implement the report which, its OBC-backed ally Apna Dal, has opposed.

In 2002, the then chief minister Rajnath Singh had attempted a quota within quota for most backwards and ‘most dalits’ but the move failed after the government fell soon after.

Later, BJP’s political rivals also moved the court to ground the initiative.

Samajwadi Party leaders said the government was conspiring to divide the caste, especially those which had traditionally been anti-BJP.

An SP leader said, “Jatavs the dalit sub-castes have been loyal to BSP just as Yadavs to the SP. The numerically dominant OBC group have consistently backed SP and it is no surprise that such sub-castes have been targeted. The move will pit one caste against the other.”

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Manish Chandra Pandey is a Lucknow-based Senior Assistant Editor with Hindustan Times’ political bureau in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Along with political reporting, he loves to write offbeat/human interest stories that people connect with. Manish also covers departments. He feels he has a lot to learn not just from veterans, but also from newcomers who make him realise that there is so much to unlearn.

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