Ahead of polls, 15 new castes on OBCs' list
Out of these 28, 15 were new entries, nine were synonyms or sub-castes of castes already in the list while four were corrections.
New Delhi: Ahead of Assembly polls in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh that are due next year, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the inclusion of 15 new castes and modifications in 13 other castes in the Central list of Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
The Cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the proposal made by the National Commission of Backward Classes, which had recommended a total of 28 changes in eight states — Assam, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand.
Out of these 28, 15 were new entries, nine were synonyms or sub-castes of castes already in the list while four were corrections. “The changes will enable persons belonging to these castes/communities to avail of the benefits of reservation in government services and posts as well as in Central educational institutions as per the existing policy,” an official statement said.
They will also become eligible for benefits under various welfare schemes and scholarships that are administered by the Central government, which are now available to those belonging to the Other Backward Classes, it added.
On the NCBC’s recommendation, a total of 2,479 entries for inclusion, including synonyms, sub-castes, etc in the Central list of OBCs have been notified in 25 states and six Union territories. The last such notification was issued till September 2016.
The NCBC examines requests for inclusion of any class of citizens as a backward class in lists and hears complaints of over-inclusion or under-inclusion of any backward class in such lists. Its advice is binding on the Centre.
The government is also considering relaxing the creamy layer norms for OBCs and a note on this is already under its consideration.