Legislation in LS to modify SC list

The Bill seeks to bring certain modifications in SC list in states of Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Tripura and Sikkim

A Bill to include, as well as exclude certain communities from the list of scheduled castes was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.

The Bill seeks to bring certain modifications in the Scheduled Castes list in states of Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Tripura and Sikkim.

Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Thaawar Chand Gehlot introduced the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Orders (Amendment) Bill, 2014.

"The state governments of Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Tripura and Sikkim have proposed certain modifications in the list, by inclusion of certain communities in the case of the first four states, and exclusion of an entry in the case of Sikkim," the Bill said.

The Registrar General of India and the National Commission for Scheduled Castes have conveyed their concurrence to the proposed modifications.

With the changes, there would be some additional recurring and non-recurring expenditure on account of benefits of schemes meant for the development of SC to which the persons belonging to the newly added communities would become entitled.

"It is not possible to estimate with any degree of precision the likely expenditure which would have to be incurred on this account due to non-availability of caste-wise data," the bill said.

The bill seeks to further amend the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 and the Constitution (Sikkim) Scheduled Castes Order, 1978.