Samajwadis eye MBC inclusion in SC list

The Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh has launched a campaign to woo the 17 most backward castes (MBC) that have been lobbying for inclusion in the Scheduled Castes category since the past one decade.

The SP on Tuesday held a conference of 17 MBCs that include Rajbhar, Nishad, Prajapati, Mallah, Kahar, Kashyap, Kumhar, Dhimar, Bind, Bhar, Kevat, Dhivar, Batham, Machua, Manjhi, Turha and Gaur and blamed the Centre for the delay in inclusion of the MBC castes in the SC list.

If the 17 MBC sub-castes move to the SC category, the SP benefits from votes of both the OBCs, whose space within the reservation system increases, and the sub-castes, who get more opportunities as SCs.

While the OBCs have 27 per cent reservation, the SC/ST category has 22.5 per cent. The move was one of the SP’s poll promises during the Assembly elections.

The Mulayam Singh government in 2005 had amended the UP Public Services Act, 1994, to include as many as 17 castes from the OBC list in the SC category. The state government also removed these caste groups from the OBC list.

But since the power to include any caste in the SC list rests with the Centre, the state government’s decision taken without the Centre’s consent, proved in fructuous and the Allahabad high court later quashed the decision, leaving these castes in the lurch. Since the past one decade, these 17 caste groups are neither getting the benefits of the OBC group nor those of the SC group.

While the BSP has been all along blaming the Samajwadis for leaving these caste groups in a lurch, the party is also pushing for an increase in the SC quota if the caste groups are included in the SC list.