OBC Quota

Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the birthplace of socialist icon Karpoori Thakur, the Congress on Friday took a swipe at the PM and asked whether it is not an acknowledged fact that the Jan Sangh brought down Thakur's government in Bihar in April 1979 when the-then CM introduced reservation for OBCs. The opposition party also asked whether it is not a fact that the PM and his "trouble-engine sarkar" in the state did nothing to provide protection to Bihar's 65% reservation law for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, OBCs, and EBCs under the Constitution. The attack came ahead of PM Modi addressing two poll rallies in Samastipur and Begusarai districts. Before addressing the public rally in Samastipur, the PM will visit Karpurigram, the birthplace of socialist icon and former Bihar CM late Karpoori Thakur, who was conferred the Bharat Ratna last year by the NDA government. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh posed questions to the PM and

The Telangana High Court has affirmed that the 50 per cent reservation ceiling set by the Supreme Court applies to local body polls, and any quota increase for OBCs should be within the framework of the "triple test". The Supreme Court's triple test is a framework for providing reservations for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in local body elections, requiring states to form a commission to collect data, specify the reservation proportion based on the commission's findings, and ensure the total reservation for SCs, STs, and OBCs does not exceed 50 per cent of the total seats. A detailed order copy was uploaded on the Telangana High Court website on Friday night. While issuing an interim stay against a Government Order providing 42 per cent BC reservation in local body polls on October 8, the High Court said the State Election Commission would notify the proportionate seats as open category seats and proceed with the elections. "We are, therefore, of the prima facie view that the ...

Supreme Court rules that reserved candidates using relaxations cannot claim unreserved posts if recruitment rules restrict such migration

Senior NCP (SP) leader and former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh on Tuesday claimed that the recent GR issued by the state government on reservations to the Marathas is an injustice to the Other Backward Class (OBC) community. Speaking at a press conference, Deshmukh said nobody is against giving reservations to the Marathas, but it should not affect the OBC quota. The OBC community has grown restless after the state social justice and special assistance department issued the GR on implementing the Hyderabad gazette, which will allow eligible members of the Maratha community to apply for Kunbi caste certificates. This will enable them to claim quota under the OBC category after certificates are issued. The GR was issued after the state cabinet sub-committee on Maratha reservation successfully persuaded quota activist Manoj Jarange to withdraw his hunger strike in Mumbai on September 2. "The GR on Maratha reservation is an injustice to the OBC community. Nobody is against .

Manoj Jarange-Patil had been demanding that the Maratha community be recognised as Kunbis, an agrarian caste included in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category

Activist Manoj Jarange on Wednesday said the Maratha community in Marathwada and western Maharashtra will now get reservation, even as OBC leaders expressed unhappiness over the government's decision and warned of agitation. Maharashtra minister Chhagan Bhujbal, who is a prominent leader from the Other Backward Classes (OBC), skipped the state cabinet meeting, indicating all was not well. We have scored a victory, and the credit goes to the Maratha community. Maratha people from Marathwada and western Maharashtra will now get quota, Jarange told reporters from a hospital in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, appealing to his supporters to maintain calm and have faith in his decision. The 43-year-old activist, who returned from Mumbai after ending his hunger strike, is receiving medical care in a private hospital here for dehydration and low blood sugar. Not a single line had been written by the state government in our favour till now. People should not believe in the joker-type' individual

Maratha quota protest: Thousands joined the protest at Azad Maidan despite police limits; hunger strike, traffic chaos, and rain tested Mumbai's civic infrastructure

A parliamentary committee looking into the welfare of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) has said it was the "need of the hour" to revise the creamy layer income ceiling, saying the limit is excluding a large section of eligible OBC families from reservation benefits and government welfare schemes. In its eighth report presented to Parliament on Friday, the panel noted that the last revision of the income threshold from Rs 6.5 lakh to Rs 8 lakh per annum was carried out in 2017. The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) rules require the ceiling to be reviewed every three years or sooner, if needed. The present threshold is low, covering only a small segment of OBCs, the panel, chaired by BJP MP Ganesh Singh, said, adding inflation and rising incomes in even lower income groups had made an upward revision the need of the hour. "The Committee is aware of the fact that the income limit for determining creamy layer for OBCs should be reviewed every three years or even before the ...

Telangana cabinet clears OBC quota for civic polls, fulfilling Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra promise; officials directed to begin implementation immediately

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday told the state Assembly that backwardness is the only benchmark to decide the OBC status of people. Maintaining that a disinformation campaign is continuing on social media by some quarters, she asserted that there is no connection with religion in deciding the inclusion of any person in the OBC category. Noting that the only benchmark for deciding OBC status in the state is backwardness, Banerjee said that a commission set up by the government is holding a survey on 50 new subsections for inclusion in that category. The chief minister said that 49 subsections have been included under the OBC-A and 91 under OBC-B categories. She said that while more backward sections of people have been included under OBC-A, the less backward people come under OBC-B. The chief minister addressed the House after laying the annual report of the West Bengal Commission for Backward Classes for the financial year 2024-25. Banerjee said that all ...

The cabinet on Monday approved recommendations of the West Bengal Commission for Backward Classes (WBCBC) to include 76 new castes on the list for OBC, an official said. These 76 new castes would be added to the existing 64 ethnic groups on the Other Backward Class (OBC) list in the state, he said. The cabinet also gave its nod to a proposal to make Farakka a new subdivision in Murshidabad district, he said. It was learned that the new subdivision would be constituted of Farakka, Shamsherganj, Suti-1 and Suti-2 blocks, he said. Earlier, these four blocks were part of the Jangipur subdivision. "Due to the growing population, the Jangipur subdivision authorities were facing difficulties in executing administrative work in the vast area. Hence, the decision was taken," the official told PTI. A source in Nabanna, the state secretariat, said that the council of ministers approved a decision to initiate a tendering process again to invite fresh bids for the proposed Rs 25,000-crore Ta

Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Wednesday demanded that the Modi government approve state bills aimed at increasing reservations for Backward Classes (BCs) in education, employment and local bodies to 42 per cent. Addressing a protest organised by National BC Welfare Associations at Jantar Mantar, Reddy said the state government made several representations to the central government for early approval of the bills, but there has been no response. "Many representations were made to the Centre, but there was no response. Therefore, we are here to protest," he said. The state Legislative Assembly on March 17 passed two bills to increase BC reservation from from 23 per cent to 42 per cent in educational institutions, employment and elections to rural and urban local bodies. The bills require centre's approval as the proposed BC reservation would exceed the 50 per cent cap on quotas. "We have sent the reservation bill to the Centre. We are asking (Prime Minister Narendra) Mo

As Assembly elections draw closer in Delhi, AAP convenor and former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday accused the BJP-led Central government of reneging on its promise to provide reservation to the capital's Jat community. Speaking at a press conference, Kejriwal said he wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, demanding the inclusion of Delhi's Jat community in the Central OBC list. He also accused the Centre of misleading the community for the past decade, and failing to deliver on its promises. "In 2015, the BJP invited Jat leaders to the prime minister's residence and assured them that Delhi's Jat community would be included in the Central OBC list. Union Home Minister Amit Shah promised the same in 2019. However, nothing has been done to fulfil these promises," Kejriwal said. Drawing comparisons, he questioned why Jat students from Rajasthan benefit from reservations in Delhi University (DU), while Jat students from Delhi are denied the same. "Thousands of children fro

The Congress on Wednesday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi with questions on Bihar, asking whether he thinks that a caste census is divisive and will he take decisive steps to remove the "arbitrary" 50 per cent ceiling on reservations for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, and OBCs. Ahead of the prime minister's engagements in Bihar, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said he has four questions for the PM as he visits Darbhanga. Why was AIIMS Darbhanga so delayed, Ramesh asked. "The AIIMS in Darbhanga was announced by then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Union Budget for 2015-2016. Locals have been waiting for the hospital since then, but it took nine years for work to even begin," Ramesh said in his post on X. It appears that the delay was partly due to the Union Government's insistence on seeking political credit for it, and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's machinations to ensure he benefitted from it, Ramesh alleged. "Will the non-biologic

The 2024 Lok Sabha polls saw sharp polarisation of Maratha and OBC votes across Maharashtra, particularly in Marathwada, where the BJP-led alliance could win only one of the eight seats

AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Friday announced the resumption of Jai Bhim Yojana and Farishtey Yojana and accused the BJP of deliberately stalling these initiatives after his imprisonment. Addressing a press conference, Kejriwal said that the Jai Bhim Yojana was one of his government's major efforts to ensure equal education opportunities for underprivileged children. The scheme provides for financial assistance to students from SC, ST, OBC, and economically weaker sections for coaching in IITs and civil services exams. "Coaching for IIT and civil services is very expensive. Our responsibility is to provide equal opportunity for poor children, and this scheme was started to fulfil that purpose. However, after I went to jail, it was deliberately stalled. Today, we are restarting the scheme," Kejriwal said. The scheme will continue to offer a Rs 2,500 stipend to each student and there will be no cap on the number of beneficiaries, Kejriwal said. "We believe the government'

The BJP won an unprecedented 48 seats, its best performance ever, while the Congress secured 37 in the recently concluded Assembly elections

Ambedkar recalled the question he raised during a yatra, which had sought clarity on political parties' stance

Congress MP Geniben Thakor has demanded that the existing 27 per cent reservation quota in place for the Other Backward Classes be divided into two parts for better representation of all castes under the OBC category in Gujarat. In a letter written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 17, Thakor said the split in OBC quota was necessary because out of the total 146 backward castes in Gujarat, only five to ten castes were getting majority of the benefits while other "extremely backward castes" received only one or two per cent benefits. These extremely backward castes in Gujarat include Thakor, Koli, Vadi, Dabgar, Kharva, Madari, Nat, Salat, Vanzara, Dhobi, Mochi and Vaghri, said Thakor, who represents Banaskantha seat in Parliament as the lone Congress Lok Sabha MP from Gujarat. To end the disparity, Thakor suggested that the 27 per cent OBC quota be split in two parts - 7 per cent quota for those who receive maximum benefits so far and a separate 20 per cent quota for the .

The West Bengal government on Tuesday sought an urgent hearing on its plea in the Supreme Court against a Calcutta High Court verdict striking down the OBC status of several castes, mostly Muslim groups, for granting reservation to them in public sector jobs and state-run educational institutions. The top court bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud was told by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Trinamool Congress-led state government, that the plea along with other petitions needed to be heard as the issues like issuance of OBC certificate is stalled. The senior counsel said the authorities are unable to issue caste certificates to those seeking quota benefits in admissions, including entry to medical colleges. He said though the cases are listed for hearing in the day's list but they are unlikely to reach. The matters will be there in the board and will be taken up just after the bench concludes hearing the cases listed ahead of them, the CJI said. The case wa