Lok Sabha passes bill increasing list of SC communities

The Lok Sabha Thursday passed a constitutional amendment bill to add more communities to the existing list of scheduled castes in many states.

The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Orders (Amendment) Bill, 2014 was passed by a voice vote.

The bill adds communities in the list of scheduled castes in the states of Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Tripura. It removes the Majhi community from the list in Sikkim.

Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot said the amendment was necessary for betterment of lives of many people belonging to scheduled castes.

Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav urged the minister to include names of more communities from Uttar Pradesh like Kahar, Rajbhar and Prajapati in the list.

"Some of these communities are already availing reservation in states like Madhya Pradesh and other neighbouring states," he said.

Rashtriya Janata Dal's Rajesh Ranjan said there is maximum corruption in schemes meant for the poor and the scheduled caste/tribes and the government should try and address this.