After Yadavs, Yogi includes 17 OBC castes in SC list

Tribune News Service
Lucknow, June 29

Following in the footsteps of his predecessor, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has once again included 17 OBC castes in the Scheduled Caste list.

If the prospect of the approaching 2017 Vidhan Sabha polls had prompted the then CM Akhilesh Yadav to take a similar decision on December 22, 2016, the pressure to win the dozen bypolls clearly seems to have forced CM Yogi to take the path.

The move is bound to benefit the BJP and further erode the vote base of Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party in the state.

The Yogi government reportedly took this decision late on Friday night, directing the district magistrates to issue caste certificate to families belonging to these 17 castes.

This decision is, however, subject to the final pronouncement of a writ petition filed by Dr BR Ambedkar Granthalaya and Jankalyan before the Allahabad High Court challenging the earlier decision of the SP government.

Insiders believe that with a BJP government at the Centre as well, the UP government may succeed in providing these socially and economically backward classes the benefits of reservation after removing legal irritants that have repeatedly stalled the issue in the past.

While the move may leave space in the OBC quota for the remaining OBC caste groups, it is bound to crowd the SC quota, a reason why Mayawati had cancelled this move when the Mulayam Singh Yadav government had brought a resolution in the Vidhan Sabha to this effect in 2004.

In 2005, CM Mulayam Yadav had even issued a government order giving SC benefits to these castes. But the order was struck down by the High Court on the ground that the state government was not authorised to include or remove any caste from the SC list.

The Akhilesh Yadav government had also made an attempt just after being elected to office in 2012. In March 2013, the Vidhan Sabha passed a resolution asking the Centre to include the very same 17 OBC castes in the SC list.

Who made the cut

The OBC castes that have been added to the SC list are Nishad, Bind, Mallah, Kewat, Kashyap, Bhar, Dhivar, Batham, Machua, Prajapati, Rajbhar, Kahar, Kumhar, Dhimar, Manjhi, Turaha and Gaur