OBC Groups to SC List - U.P Government Move

Why in news?

The BJP government in U.P. is making a move to include 17 OBC groups among Scheduled Castes.

What is the proposal?

The UP Social Welfare Department recently sent a letter to all divisional commissioners and district magistrates.
It refers to an order of the Allahabad High Court (dated March 29, 2017).
It directs district authorities to issue caste certificates as per that order after scrutiny of documents.
The court order was in regards with 17 OBC castes — Kahaar, Kashyap, Kevat, Mallah, Nishad, Kumhar, Prajapati, Dhivar, Bind, Bhar, Rajbhar, Dhimar, Batham, Turha, Godia, Maajhi and Machhua.

What were the earlier attempts?

The Samajwadi Party (SP) regimes of Mulayam Singh Yadav (2003-07) and Akhilesh Yadav (2012-17) had initiated the attempt before.
[When these 17 groups are out of the OBC list, it opens up more opportunities for the SP’s core vote base within the 27% OBC quota.
This refers to the Yadavs who comprise around 10% of the state population.
While this can upset SCs, they are not seen as traditional SP voters.]
The Allahabad High Court quashed the Mulayam government’s amendment to the Uttar Pradesh Public Services Act, 1994 in 2005.
It termed the amendment unconstitutional, since only Parliament has the power to make such an inclusion.
Mulayam had also directed district authorities to issue SC certificates to these 17 OBC castes, after the move was cleared by the state cabinet.
The Centre, however, did not clear his proposal.
In 2013, the Akhilesh cabinet cleared the same proposal, but the Centre once again rejected it.
Further attempts made also did not give any substantial results.

What is the present government’s rationale?

The noted 17 castes make up around 15% of the state’s population.
A caste in the SC list gets more government benefits than one in the OBC list.
Also, since the OBC population is large, there is close competition among OBC groups for reservation benefits.
If these 17 castes are moved to the SC list, they will face less competition because the SC population is smaller in U.P.
The latest move comes with the risk of turning the SC voters away from the ruling BJP and towards the BSP.
However, the BJP can hope to make gains within the 17 newly notified SC groups as it banks on non-Yadav OBC votes.
[These 17 castes are socially most backward, and many survive on small occupations in rural areas.
E.g. Nishads earn from fishing, Kumhars earn from making earthen pots]

What is the distinction between an OBC and an SC?

The criteria for recognising specific castes as SC and OBC are distinct.
Extreme social, educational and economic backwardness are common qualifications for both groups.
However, in particular, SCs draw such backwardness from untouchability.
For OBCs, apart from social, educational and economic backwardness, lack of adequate representation in government posts and services is a criterion.
The positive rights guaranteed under the Constitution to SCs are to correct the historical wrongs of untouchability.
So, there is now a concern that addition of other castes in the group would dilute this guarantee.

How is a caste listed as a Scheduled Caste?

Between 1950 and 1978, 6 Presidential Orders were issued recognising specific caste groups as SCs.
The name ‘Scheduled Caste’ derives from the fact that this is annexed as a Schedule to the Constitution.
Article 341(1) of the Constitution prescribes the procedure for recognising castes as “Scheduled Castes”.
To make additions or deletions to the Schedule by amending the concerned Presidential Order, state governments should first propose to modify the Schedule.
Only proposals agreed by both the Registrar General of India and the National Commission for Scheduled Castes are introduced as a Bill in the Parliament.
This procedure was adopted by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment in 1999 and was amended in 2002.
[A similar provision exists for Scheduled Tribes under Article 342.]

Source: Indian Express