Row in U.P. over inclusion of 17 MBCs in Scheduled Caste category

Mayawati and Rajbhar allege that the Adityanath govt.’s order aimed at making gains in Assembly bypolls

The contentious issue of including 17 Most Backward Castes (MBCs) in the Scheduled Caste category has once again triggered a political controversy in Uttar Pradesh after the Yogi Adityanath government directed all districts to issue caste certificates to these castes subject to an ongoing writ petition.

Opposition leaders BSP chief Mayawati and Om Prakash Rajbhar, a former ally of the BJP and president of the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, alleged that the government’s directive was aimed at making political gains in the coming bypolls to 11 Assembly seats.

‘Totally illegal’

Ms. Mayawati on Monday said the move was “totally illegal and unconstitutional,” while Mr. Rajbhar said it was to “mislead” these castes to gain votes.

In a directive to all District Magistrates and Divisional Commissioners, the State Social Justice department asked them to “issue” SC caste certificates to these OBC communities as per rules after scrutiny of relevant documents

The June 24 directive is vague and merely instructs the DMs and DCs to ensure the implementation of the Allahabad High court order dated March 29, 2017. The High Court order itself, however, does not direct issuing any new caste certificates.

“In the event, any caste certificates are issued pursuant to the impugned order, those certificates shall be subject to the outcome of the writ petition,” the government directive quotes the HC order.

The 17 castes include Mallah, Kashyap, Kumhar, Dheemar, Bind, Prajapati, Dheevar, Bhar, Kewat, Batham, Kahar, Machhua Rajbhar, Nishad, Turha, Manjhi and Gaudia.

2017 verdict

In January 2017, the High Court stalled the then Samajwadi Party government’s decision to include the 17 MBCs into the SC list after the Cabinet passed a proposal to this effect. Passing the order on a PIL petition filed by a Gorakhpur-based organisation, Dr. Ambedkar Granthalaya Evan Jan Kalyan Samiti, the High Court had directed the State to not issue SC certificates to the 17 castes.

Their inclusion into the SC list has been a matter of controversy since the tenure of Mulayam Singh when in 2005 his government amended the Uttar Pradesh Public Services Act, 1994 to make way for the inclusion of these 17 castes. However, the State government’s decision came to a zero in the absence of the Centre’s consent, as it holds the power to declare any caste as “Scheduled.” The decision was later quashed by the Allahabad High Court. Proposals for the same sent to the Centre by then Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav in 2014 were also rejected.

‘Biggest betrayal’

Ms. Mayawati said the Yogi Adityanath government’s directive was the “biggest betrayal” of the 17 MBC castes and said they would now be deprived of benefits of both OBC and SC categories.

These castes would not enjoy the benefits of OBC as they won’t be counted in the category after the order, while they will also not be able to avail benefits of the SC category because no State can through its orders add or remove a caste to or from the SC list, Ms. Mayawati argued. Article 341 of the Constitution prevented the States from having such powers, she said.

Ms. Mayawati said it was clear that like the previous SP government, the Yogi Adityanath government passed the direction to “deceive” these castes, as they would lose their benefits under the OBC category and be counted under the general category since as per Article 341 they cannot be considered as SCs through a State order.

Ms. Mayawati reiterated her old demand to the Centre of inclusion of the 17 castes into the SC list but only through the expansion of the quota for Dalits.

Mr. Rajbhar said including the 17 MBCs into the SC list was not in the domain of the State government.

Sub-categorisation

If the Yogi Adityanath government wants to actually ensure development of these castes, it should immediately implement the recommendations of the social justice committee calling for sub-categorisation of the 27% OBC quota, Mr. Rajbhar said. The report, which puts the BJP in an awkward position vis-a-vis its caste game, has been in cold storage for eight months.

The MBC votes in Uttar Pradesh up for grabs as they are not bound by a single political party or are loyal to one leader. The BJP has over the years tried to pitch them against the dominant Yadavs, the core votebase of the SP.