Rajya Sabha Passes bill to include certain communities in the Scheduled Caste list

Rajya Sabha Passes bill to include certain communities in the Scheduled Caste list

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Rajya Sabha Passes bill to include certain communities in the Scheduled Caste list
Rajya Sabha Passes bill to include certain communities in the Scheduled Caste list

A bill to include certain similar names under the Scheduled Castes category in Haryana, Odisha, Karnataka and Dadar and Nagar Haveli was passed by the upper house Rajya Sabha on 25th February 2015. The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) orders (Amendment) Bill, 2014 was passed by a voice vote in the Rajya Sabha assembly. Replying to a debate on the Bill, Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Thaawar Chand Gehlot said the law has been further modified and amended to re-fresh the SC list in three states and one Union Territory.

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Expressing concern over the diversion of the SC sub plan fund in various states including the capital of India, Delhi and cruelty on SC people he said the government is taking required measures to help them and solve their problems in a planned and a systematic manner.

He also stated that the Central government has been given a proposal from the Bihar government with regard to inclusion of some other classes in the SC list. According to the bill, communities such as Julaha and Kabirpanthi in Haryana, Bhovi, od, odde,Vaddar, Waddar in Karnataka, Dhobi, Dhoba, Dom, Dombo, Duria Dom, Katia, Nalua Kela, Kela, Khandala and Turi in Odisha and the community of 'Chamar' in Dadar and Nagar Haveli are all included in the Schedule Caste list.

Participating in the debate, Ali Anwar Ansari of the Janta Dal United (JDU) proposed for the inclusion of Haryana's mev community under the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category on equal privileges with the Meena tribe. In his parting comments the Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Thaawar Chand Gehlot alleged that the community which valiantly fought against Babar's invasion and sacrificed more than thousand lives was not included in the list simply on basis of their religion primarily because the
come under the category of Mewati Muslims.

Important Facts about Information Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes :

The Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are official designations given to various groups of historically underprivileged and disadvantaged group of people. These terms are recognised by the Indian Constitution and the various groups are arranged in
distinct groups and categories. During the British rule in India they were known as the depressed classes. In the modern litrerature and text books the Scheduled Castes are generally referred to as Dalits.

The SC and STs form about 16.6 per cent and 8.6 per cent of India's population respectively according to the census report of 2011. The Constitution (SC) order, 1950 lists 1,108 castes across a total of 29 states in its first schedule and the Constitution (ST) orders, 1950 lists 744
tribes across 22 different states in its first schedule.

Ever Since Independence the ST/SC tribes were given reservation status among various competitive exams, jobs, seats in educational institutions and guaranteed political representation. As per the constitution (Schedule Castes) Orders (Amendment) Act of 1990, SC's can only belong
to Hindu, Sikh or buddhist religions and there is no such religious bar in the case of Scheduled tribes.

As per the 61st survey of the National Sample Survey Organization found that 90 per cent of the Buddhists, one third of Sikhs and the same number of Christians in India belonged to the notified Scheduled castes and tribes of the Constitution.

Distribution of each religion by caste category 2004/05

Scheduled Caste

Scheduled Tribe

Other backward Classes

Others

Total

Hinduism

22.2

9.1

42.8

26.0

100

Muslim

0.8

0.5

39.2

59.5

100

Christians

9.0

32.8

24.8

33.3

100

Sikhs

30.7

0.9

22.4

46.1

100

Jains

0.0

2.6

3.0

94.3

100

Buddhists

89.5

7.4

0.4

2.7

100

Zoroastrians

0.0

15.9

13.7

70.4

100

Others

2.6

82.5

6.2

8.7

100