In an attempt to woo the backward castes ahead of Assembly polls, the Akhilesh Yadav Government passed a resolution to include 17 sub-castes of Other Backward Castes (OBCs) into the Scheduled Castes (SC)
category.
The State Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, approved the inclusion of these sub-castes into Scheduled Caste. Interestingly, it was one of the main commitments of the SP when in fomed the Government in 2012. These sub-castes include Kahaar, Kashyap, Kewat, Nishad, Bind, Bhar, Prajapati, Rajbhar, Batham, Gaur, Tura, Majhi, Mallah, Kumhar, Dheemar and Machua.
The move is directed at strengthening the SP’s weakening hold over a section of the OBCs, who have traditionally remained the most deprived lot.
The Cabinet moved another resolution to send the proposal to the Centre for further consideration as ‘the final power for the change’ is vested with the Union Government.
It is the third time that the SP Government has made an attempt to include 17 OBC castes into the SC bracket. The first attempt was made by Mulayam Singh Yadav’s regime when it brought a resolution in 2004. The then SP Government amended the UP Public Services Act, 1994, to include as many as 17 castes of OBCs into the SC category.
But since the power to declare any caste as ‘Scheduled Caste’ rests with the Centre, the then UP Government’s decision taken without the Centre’s consent, proved futile. The Allahabad High Court later quashed the decision declaring the move unconstitutional and void.
The second attempt was made in 2012 – when Akhilesh Yadav came to power and a high-level committee headed by the then Chief Secretary Jawed Usmani sought details from the department of Social Welfare in this regard. The circular from the CS on March 28, 2012 too, spoke about the Government’s priorities, including the inclusion of 17 OBC sub-castes within the SC category.
In 2013, just before the lok Sabh polls, the Samajwadi Party had launched Samajik Nyaya Yatra demanding that these 17 OBCs be included in the SC bracket. The Yatra was led by Gayatri Prajapati – a Minister in Akhilesh Government.
If these 17 OBC sub-castes are transferred to SC category, the SP will benefit from the votes of both the OBCs, whose space within the reservation bracket increases. The CM had taken up this issue with the Centre several times before but nothing concrete happened.
This move also underlines the SP’s strategy to consolidate the votes that drifted away following an overwhelming dominance of Yadavs over a period of time. The sub-castes proposed to be included in the SC category essentially constitute the most backward castes (MBCs) within the OBCs.
