Parl passes bill to include certain communities in SC list

Parliament today passed a Bill to include certain synonymous names of communities in Scheduled Castes category in Haryana, Karnataka, Odisha and Dadra and Nagar Haveli.
The Lok Sabha today passed the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Orders (Amendment) Bill, 2015, by a voice vote. On February 24, the Bill was cleared by the Rajya Sabha.
Replying to a debate on the bill, Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Thaawar Chand Gehlot said the government is aware of the problems being faced by the Scheduled Castes (SC) and is ready is consider proposals received from states including any community in this category.
"I can assure the members that we are active about solving the issues of Scheduled Castes... As and when we receive a proposal from a state regarding inclusion of any community in Scheduled Caste list, we will consider it," Gehlot said.

He said the Centre is already implementing a number of schemes for the upliftment of Scheduled Caste and is also providing scholarships to such students, especially girls.
"We have set up a Rs 200 crore Venture Capital fund to provide soft loan to Scheduled Caste people starting their own business," he said, adding that there has been an increase in the Budgetary allocation for his Ministry.

Gehlot said the law has been further amended to modify the Scheduled Caste list in three states and one Union Territory.
As per the bill, communities such as 'Kabirpanthi and Julaha' in Haryana, 'Bhovi, od, odde, Vaddar, Waddar' in Karnatka, 'Dhoba, Dhobi, Dom, Dombo, Duria Dom, Katia, Kela, Nalua Kela, Khadala and Turi' in Odisha and the community of 'Chamar' in Dadra and Nagar Haveli are included in the SC list.

Participating in the debate, P K Biju (CPI-M) said the inclusion would help the poorest of poor. He regretted that even after 60 years of independence, about 30 crore people of SC and ST community have no improvement in their living condition.
Welcoming the Bill, Dhruvanarayana (Cong) said the community have been backward and needed justice.