The Uttar Pradesh government is all set to capitalize on THE CONSTITUTION (ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVENTH AMENDMENT) BILL, 2021, passed in the parliament a few days ago. The bill allows the state governments to maintain their own list of socially and educationally backward classes (SEBCs), commonly known as Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
As per reports, the Yogi government is preparing to include 39 castes in the OBC list on the recommendation of the State Backward Classes Commission, which will soon make a recommendation in this regard to the Uttar Pradesh government.
These 39 castes are Vaish, Jaiswar Rajput, Ruhela, Bhutia, Agrahari, Dosar, Muslim Shah, Muslim Kayastha, Hindu Kayastha, Core Kshatriya Rajput, Dohar, Ayodhyawasi Vaish, Barnwal, Kamalapuri Vaish, Kesarwani Vaish, Bagwan, Bhatt, Omar Bania, Mahour Vaish, Hindu Bhaat, Goria, Bot, Panwaria, Umaria, Nowana and the Muslim Bhat.
The commission will also do a survey for the castes like Vishnoi, Khar Rajput, Porwal, Puruwar, Kunder Kharadi, Binoudhia Vaish, Honorable Vaish, Gulhare Vaish, Gadhaiya, Radhedi, Pithbaj etc to see their eligibility.
This step would ensure that the upper castes vote en masse for BJP. These communities, most of which are mercantile and depend on small businesses, anyway vote for the party, but they are hurt due to Coronavirus lockdown. The Yogi government wants to ensure that they do not drift away from the party due to the economic damage they bore in the last few years.
Previously, the Most Backward Social Justice Committee (MBSJC), which was constituted by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, recommended dividing OBC subcastes into three categories – pichda, ati pichda aur sarvadhik pichda (backward, very backward, and most backward). While 12 subcastes have been put in the backward category, 59 have been placed in very backward and another 79 have been put in the most backward category. Each group is expected to get a 9 per cent reservation of the total 27 per cent allotted for OBCs.
The backward community would include castes like Yadav and Jats who currently siphon off most of the 27 per cent of quota while other castes in the OBC category are marginalized. The quota of these castes would be limited to 9 per cent.
The very Backward category would include castes like Gurjar, Kushwaha-Maurya-Shakya, Prajapati, Gaderia-Pal, Baghel, Sahu, Kumhar, Teli, and Lodh who have poor representation political and economic front. The employment rate of these castes is only 50% in comparison to their population. The panel also said that some specific castes among them have been securing more employment in comparison to other castes, which is contributing to the emergence of a new middle class.
The third category, the Most Backward, includes castes like Mallah, Nishad, Kewat, Kashyap, Kahar, Bind, Rajbhar, Bhar, Loniya Chauhan, Dheevar, and Ghosi. They are backward in all respects- culturally, economically, socially, and as well as politically. Most of them are employed in lower levels of government services (Grades 3 and 4 jobs).
The new quota system might be implemented before the assembly election. It is very evident from the cabinet expansion as well as revision of the OBC quota that BJP is banking on a combination of upper caste, non-Yadav OBC, and non-Jatav SC to win the election because this formula has worked for the party every time.