Uttar Pradesh Cabinet Clears Proposal to Include 17 OBCs in SC List
With the crucial assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh just around the corner, the state government on Thursday approved conversion of 17 backward castes (OBCs) to Scheduled Castes (SC) in a key Cabinet decision.
Earlier, the Uttar Pradesh State Backward Class Commission (UPSBCC) had recommend to the state government to enact legislation for curbing atrocities on the members of the OBCs.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday also unveiled the under construction Varuna riverfront development project and also lay foundation stone of the Poorvanchal Expressway in a bid to woo voters on development plank.
On December 8, fifteen new castes were included in the central list of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) with the Centre issuing notification in this regard.
Out of these 28, 15 castes, including Gadheri/itafarosh in Bihar, Jhora in Jharkhand and Labana in Jammu and Kashmir, were new entries, 9 were synonyms or sub-castes of the castes which were already in the list and four were corrections.
Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday had launched a veiled attack on the ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, claiming that the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre believed in development for all, "unlike the situation in the state where caste is supreme".
"Our government is working with the motto -- 'sabka saath, sabka vikas' -- as articulated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi," Gadkari had said.
