UP government's move to include 17 OBC communities to SCs "unconstitutional": Gehlot

Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Thawar Chand Gehlot on Tuesday termed as "unconstitutional" the Uttar Pradesh government's move to include 17 OBC communities in the list of Scheduled Castes.

"This is inappropriate. It is the right of the Parliament to add any caste into SC or ST or OBC category. The order issued is inappropriate, unconstitutional. I would request them not to issue caste certificates based on the order. This decision will stick in the court " Gehlot said in Rajya Sabha.

He was responding to BSP's Satish Chandra Mishra who raised the issue during Zero Hour in the Upper House and termed the Uttar Pradesh government's decision illegal. The BSP leader also alleged that the state government has not followed the procedure.

Responding to it, Gehlot said if the Uttar Pradesh government wants to include these OBC communities into ST/SC category, it should follow the procedure and send the proposal to the Center.

Uttar Pradesh government had on June 29 added 17 castes including Kashyap, Mallah, Kumhar, Rajbhar, Prajapati and others in the list of Scheduled Castes.

It has also directed all District officers to issue Caste Certificate to the families of those belonging to these 17 castes.

All the castes added in the SC list previously were under the Other Backward Castes (OBC) list.