Chaos in Uttarakhand assembly over issuing of caste certificates

The issue was raised by Opposition MLAs Mamta Rakesh and Qazi Nizamuddin from Haridwar after the Question Hour in the House.

The second day of the ongoing monsoon session in Uttarakhand Assembly witnessed chaos following a heated debate on the issue of irregularities in issuing caste certificates by the revenue department to people belonging to scheduled caste (SC), scheduled tribe (ST) and Other Backward Class (OBC) in the state.

File photo: Uttarakhand assembly. (ANI)

The issue was raised by Opposition MLAs Mamta Rakesh and Qazi Nizamuddin from Haridwar after the Question Hour in the House.

Raising the issue, Rakesh alleged that the people of the state “are facing practical issues in getting their caste certificates from the revenue department as the authorities concerned are asking for documents to prove their permanent residency dated 1985 or before that.”

“It is a totally impractical demand as many people don’t have those documents dated 1985 or before that. Due to this, they are not able to get their caste certificates and thus failing to avail the benefit of at least 14 welfare programmes being run by the social welfare department of state,” said Rakesh, demanding the government to simplify the process.

Continuing the attack on the government, MLA Nizamuddin said the “government has made 1985 as the base year for documents of permanent residency in the state which should be changed to November 9, 2000, when the state was formed out of Uttar Pradesh.”

“The base should be made November 9, 2000, as it was the date of state’s formation and before that, we were in Uttar Pradesh. Hence, asking the people to show documents dating 1985 makes absolutely no sense. The government should simplify the process by making the base year 2000 and not 1985,” said Nizamuddin.

Speaking on the issue, he also cited a committee formed in the issue under former parliamentary affairs minister Madan Kaushik a few years ago which “too said that the base year should be 2000 for getting the caste certificates.”

“But even after the committee’s recommendation, people are asked to show documents dating 1985 or older to prove their permanent residency,” Nizamuddin said.

The two MLAs were soon joined by the Leader of Opposition Pritam Singh who, while terming the issue a “very serious one”, said the demand for documents dating 1985 or older is unnecessary making the process difficult for a large section of people in the state. Because of that, they are not able to get their caste certificates. Government should immediately make 2000 as the base year.”

Replying in the House, revenue minister Subodh Uniyal, while citing the reason behind making 1985 as the base year for caste certificates, turned the gun at the Opposition and said, “The definition of permanent residency in Uttarakhand was decided by your (Congress) government in 2013 which said any person living in Uttarakhand for at least 15 years before the formation of the state in 2000 would be considered a permanent resident who is eligible for getting caste certificate.”

“We are just following that definition on permanent residency on issuing caste certificates. So blaming us for the issue won’t help,” said Uniyal.

Amid the heated debate between the Opposition MLAs and the minister, ruling party MLA from Haridwar Deshraj Karnwal said that the Uttarakhand high court, in an order in 2013 on the issue, had already said that, “Those born after 2000 or before that in the state would be included in the definition of a permanent resident to get caste certificate.”

“The governments in all these years didn’t take any action even after the high court order. The concerned department official passed an order on the same in 2020, but it is stuck in the department of revenue with no implementation till date,” said Karnwal.

With his statement, the Opposition became aggressive, saying their own MLA “exposed” them on the issue. Led by the Leader of Opposition Singh, they also resorted to raising slogans against the government amid requests by the Speaker to get back to their place, which they did after some time.

Later, minister of parliamentary affairs Bansidhar Bhagat said, “The government will take necessary action on the same to simplify the process for people.”

During the day, the Opposition also raised the issue of the formation of four new districts citing the announcement made by the BJP government in 2011 with no action on it to date.

Opposition MLA from Ranikhet constituency, Karan Mahara raised the issue saying, “The BJP government in 2011 had announced four new districts in the state namely Ranikhet, Kotdwar, Didihat and Yamunotri but nothing has been happening on the issue since then.”

“Almost after a decade, the government did nothing to implement the announcement on the ground which would have helped in the development of those areas. This just proves that it was just a political move to affect the 2012 polls which they lost. But after coming back to power in 2017, they haven’t done anything yet because they don’t have any intentions for it,” said Mahara.

“The government should now decide on the district headquarters and other aspects of the four proposed districts which would help the development of those areas,” he added.

Minister Bhagat, while replying to the House on the issue, blamed the Opposition for not taking any step on the same when it was in power from 2012-2017.

“We had made a committee to decide on the area marking and other required processes in 2011 after the announcement but unfortunately, we lost the elections in 2012. But the question is what did they do in five years of being in power from 2012-17? Nothing. And now they are blaming us or making hollow political promises which, in fact, they themselves are doing with months left for the next assembly elections,” said Bhagat while adding, “However, we are a responsible government and will take necessary actions on it.”

Earlier, when the day commenced, the Opposition demanded a debate on the Covid-19 pandemic, saying “the pandemic isn’t over yet with new cases coming daily and no visible preparation by the government to handle the expected third wave.”

Speaker Premchand Aggarwal then assured a debate post-lunch session during which the government informed the House on the preparations for the third wave including additional ICU beds in hospitals and speeding up inoculation drive against Covid-19 in the state.

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