Page 3 - Scheduled Castes

RJD, CPI(ML) demand inclusion of 65% reservation quota in Constitution

Reservation quota: Holding placards, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members of RJD, CPI(ML) raised slogans against the BJP and JD(U) outside the Parliament on Thursday

Chandra Shekhar Azad introduces bill asking pvt sector quota for SC,ST,OBC

Lok Sabha MP Chandra Shekhar Azad on Friday introduced a private member bill in Lok Sabha seeking reservation for the SCs, STs, and the OBCs in private sector, educational institutions, and other establishments that employ at least 20 people and have no government financial interest. The bill seeks to extend reservation benefits, currently meant only for public sector, to the private sector. The bill was formally titled the Reservation for the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and the Other Backward Classes in Private Sector Act, 2024. Under the proposed legislation, the Central government must incentivise private sector entities to implement reservations for SCs, STs, and OBCs through special concessions and facilitate lower interest loans through nationalised banks. The bill also seeks presentation of an annual report detailing the actions taken under the Act in both houses of Parliament. The Central government will be mandated to create rules to ensure the effective ...

MP minister threatens to quit after forest portfolio given to Cong turncoat

Madhya Pradesh Scheduled Caste Welfare Minister Nagar Singh Chouhan on Monday threatened to resign from his post after he was divested of the Forest and Environment portfolio, which has been allocated to new inductee and Congress turncoat Ramniwas Rawat. Chouhan said his wife Anita Singh Chouhan would also quit as Ratlam MP if BJP organisational leaders failed to respond "positively" to his concerns. The Forest and Environment Ministry held by Nagar was allocated to Rawat on Sunday. "My voice was not heard. I will first talk to organisational leaders and decide the next step. I will decide in a day or two after talking to the party organisation. If I feel I should not stay on the post, I will resign along with my wife Anita," Chouhan, a prominent tribal leader, told PTI over the phone. He said tribals form 23 per cent of the population in Madhya Pradesh. "This is the first time tribals have been given leadership, but now the Forest Department, which is closely associated with ...

Narendra Modi returns as PM for third straight term, equals Nehru's record

I look forward to serving 1.4 bn Indians and working with the Council of Ministers to take India to new heights of progress, says PM Narendra Modi

India's consumption story is yet to address the caste discrimination issue

Ages-old bias could also be affecting what traditionally deprived communities earn

Mayawati role model for entire Bahujan community, says Akash Anand

Divested of responsibilities as the BSP's national coordinator, Akash Anand on Thursday said he fully respects the decision of his aunt and party president Mayawati whom he described as a role model for the entire Bahujan community He also said that he will continue to fight for the Bhim Mission till his last breath "You (Mayawati) are a role model for the entire Bahujan community, crores of countrymen worship you. It is because of your struggles that today our society has got such political strength due to which the Bahujan community has learned to live with respect," Anand said in a post on X. "You are our universal leader. Totally respect your order.I will keep fighting till my last breath for Bhim Mission and my society," he said. His remarks come after former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati decided on Tuesday night to divest him of his responsibilities as the party's national coordinator and her "successor", barely five months after she had anointed him. Mayawati had sh

Previous govts cheated SC, ST, OBC in name of social justice: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday accused previous governments of cheating SC, ST and OBC communities in the name of social justice, and said he was working to fulfil the dreams of Jyotiba Phule, Dr BR Ambedkar and Chaudhary Charan Singh. Modi was addressing a poll rally here in support of the BJP candidate from the Amroha Lok Sabha constituency Kanwar Singh Tanwar. "Previous governments have only cheated people of SC, ST and OBC communities in the name of social justice," he said. "Modi is working day and night to fulfil the social justice dream of Jyotiba Phule, Ambedkar and Chaudhary Charan Singh," the prime minister added. Modi addressed the rally as polling was underway in eight western Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha constituencies in the first phase of the general election in the country. The prime minister began his speech with an appeal to people to vote. "I appeal to all to exercise their right to vote given by the Constitution," he said. Modi emphasized that youngsters sh

LS polls: Swami Prasad Maurya extends support to Chandrashekhar Azad

Former Uttar Pradesh minister Swami Prasad Maurya, who left the Samajwadi Party and formed the Rashtriya Shoshit Samaj Party in February, on Friday extended support to the Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) candidate Chandrashekhar from the Nagina Lok Sabha seat. In a post on the social media platform 'X', Maurya said, "The Rashtriya Shoshit Samaj Party (RSSP) extends support to Chandrashekhar Azad, the candidate of the Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) from the Lok Sabha constituency number-5, Nagina (reserved). " Maurya also appealed to the people of the Nagina constituency to elect Azad with an overwhelming majority. Maurya has been a five-time member of the Legislative Assembly, a minister in governments led by Mayawati and Yogi Adityanath. Recently, Maurya had hit headlines with his controversial remarks on the Ramayana and the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. Azad, a prominent leader of the scheduled caste who founded the Bhim Army, has formed a political party nam

Supreme Court reinstates MP Navneet Rana's scheduled caste certificate

A Bombay High Court judgment in 2021 had questioned the validity of MP Navneet Kaur Rana 'Mochi' caste certificate, claiming it had been procured fraudulently

Bihar caste census an X-ray for country, step towards justice: Rahul Gandhi

"Count is our slogan because counting is the 'first step to justice'," Gandhi added

Caste census, economic mapping will 'uproot' 50% reservation cap: Rahul

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday underlined his party's resolve to conduct a caste census if voted to power, asserting that based on this right step along with economic mapping, the 50 per cent cap on reservation would be "uprooted". Gandhi said the Congress' slogan is "count" because that would be the first step towards justice. In a post in Hindi on X, the former Congress president said, "Have we ever wondered who is poor? How many are there and in what condition? Is it not necessary to count all this?" The caste survey conducted in Bihar revealed that 88 per cent of the poor population comes from Dalit, tribal, backward and minority communities, Gandhi said. "The figures from Bihar are just a small glimpse of the real picture of the country, we do not even have an idea in what condition the poor population of the country is living in," he said. "That is why we are going to take two historic steps -- caste census, economic mapping -- on the basis of which we will uproot

Is state empowered to make classification in SCs, STs for quota: SC

The Supreme Court on Tuesday commenced examining a legal question whether a state government is empowered to make a sub-classification in the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes for grant of reservation in admissions and public jobs. A seven-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud is also examining the validity of the Punjab Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes (Reservation in Services) Act, 2006 which provided 50 percent quota and the first preference' to Valmikis' and Mazhabi Sikhs' castes in public jobs inside the quota meant for the Scheduled Castes (SCs). The bench, also comprising justices BR Gavai, Vikram Nath, Bela M Trivedi, Pankaj Mithal, Manoj Misra and Satish Chandra Mishra, is hearing 23 petitions, including the lead one filed by the Punjab Government challenging the 2010 verdict of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The high court had struck down Section 4(5) of the Punjab law, which gave 50 per cent SC quota to Valmikis' and Mazhabi Sikhs',

Amend Constitution for internal reservation for SCs: Siddaramaiah to Centre

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday termed the high-level committee to review internal reservation for Scheduled Castes as a ploy to mislead the Dalit community. He charged that the BJP has no genuine concern behind the move. "The Central Government has formed a high-level committee under the chairmanship of the Cabinet Secretary to review the internal reservation for Scheduled Castes," Siddaramaiah said in a statement and alleged that this seemed to be nothing more than a ploy to mislead the Dalit community as it is clear that the BJP has no genuine concern behind it. "If the Central Government truly intends to fulfill the demands for internal reservation for Scheduled Castes, it should present a bill to amend Section 341 of the Constitution in Parliament, get it approved and implement the reservation quickly," the Chief Minister said. Siddaramaiah underlined that the Justice Usha Mehra Commission, also constituted by the Central Government for the same purpose, had

Govt forms panel to examine steps to safeguard interests of SCs: Report

A high-level panel has been formed to examine the administrative steps that can be taken to safeguard the interests of scheduled caste communities like the Madigas, sources said on Friday. The panel will seek to ensure fair allocation of benefits to the most disadvantaged communities within the Scheduled Castes, which have been overshadowed by comparatively affluent and influential groups. "On the directions of the prime minister, a committee of secretaries has been constituted under the chairmanship of cabinet secretary," a source privy to the matter said. "It will examine the administrative steps that can be taken to safeguard the interests of the scheduled caste communities, like the Madigas and other such groups, who have represented that they are not evenly getting their due share of benefits," he said. The committee will comprise secretaries of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Department of Personnel and Training, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, the Department of Legal Affai

No 'vertical' reservation on lines of SC, ST, OBC for LGBTQs: Ex-CJI Lalit

Former Chief Justice of India U U Lalit on Thursday said the LGBTQ community is not entitled to claim "vertical" reservations like those given to the Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC), or Economically Weaker Section (EWS). He, however, said they may claim "horizontal" reservation on the lines of the ones for women and persons with disabilities. Justice Lalit, who retired as the 49th CJI in November 2022, was answering a query during the question and answer session after delivering a special lecture on 'ffirmative Action and Constitution of India' at the India International University of Legal Education and Research (IIULER) here. When asked whether the LGBTQ community will ever come under the ambit of constitutional affirmative action/reservation, he said, "Theoretically yes, but if I give the counter argument, not to belittle the idea, but to see that my birth in a community like SC, ST or OBC is something beyond my capacity while sexual ...

Cases of atrocities against SCs were not registered in Cong regime: Khattar

Taking a dig at the Congress, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Tuesday said cases of atrocities against the members of Scheduled Caste (SC) communities were either not registered or, if registered, suppressed during the opposition party's regime. The victims of such atrocities had to run from pillar to post to get their cases registered, Khattar said in the state Assembly here. He said strict directives were issued to police stations after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in Haryana in 2014, ensuring that every individual seeking to get an FIR registered is facilitated without any impediment. Responding to a question raised by Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) MLA Abhay Singh Chautala regarding the corruption cases registered in various departments, boards and corporations, Khattar said whenever a complaint of graft is received, an FIR is lodged first and action taken on the basis of investigation. The chief minister, who was responding to various issues rai

Over 13,600 SC, ST and OBC students dropped out of IITs, IIMs in 5 yrs: MoE

Over 13,600 reserved category students dropped out from central universities, Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) over the last five years, Lok Sabha was informed on Monday. Union Minister of State for Education Subhas Sarkar shared the statistics in a written reply to a query by BSP member in Lok Sabha Ritesh Pandey. In the case of Central Universities (CUs), Sarkar said that as many as 4596 OBC, 2424 SC, and 2622 ST students dropped out in the last five years. In IITs, 2066 OBCs, 1068 SC and 408 ST students dropped out. In IIMs, the figure remained at 163, 188, and 91 for OBC, SC and ST students, respectively. "In the higher education sector, students have multiple options and they choose to migrate across institutions and from one course/programme to another in the same institution. "The migration/withdrawal, if any, is mainly on account of securing seats by the students in other departments or institutions of their choice or on any

Caste shift in Indian politics: Census, reservations, focus on OBCs

The BJP made the OBCs as politically visible and influential as the Mandal offspring, if not more

PM Modi asks to expedite formation of committee for SC quota for Madiga

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday directed Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba and other senior officials to expedite the formation of a committee to speed up the process of sub-categorisation in Scheduled Castes reservation for Madiga community, officials sources said. His initiative came days after he had announced at a rally organised by the Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi (MRPS) in poll-bound Telangana that the Centre would soon form a committee that would adopt all possible ways for empowering Madigas with regard to their demand for sub-categorisation of Scheduled Castes. Madigas are a big constituent of the Scheduled Castes in the Telugu states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The MRPS has been fighting for the categorisation of SCs since the last three decades on the grounds that the fruits of reservations and others have not reached them. The BJP has stood with them in every struggle since the last three decades, Modi had said. "We are committed to ending this injustice a

Congress chief dares PM Modi to bring out ordinance on SC categorisation

AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring out an ordinance on Scheduled Castes Categorisation, given that his government is in power and the ruling NDA has two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha. Reacting to PM Modi's recent statement on setting up a committee on empowering Madigas (an SC community) with regard to their demand for categorisation of Scheduled Castes, Kharge asked what stops Modi from implementing it when he has power and majority. "It has been 10 years since you came. Who stopped you from doing it? No one. But you did not do it. Now you said a committee will be formed in that regard. You have two-third majority (in Lok Sabha). Bring out an ordinance and give it. The promise which the Congress made for (formation) Telangana, we fulfilled it. You have power in your hand and also majority with you, Kharge said. On November 11, PM Modi Addressing a rally organised here by the Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi (MRPS), a community ..