Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government on Friday added 17 castes in the list of Scheduled Castes to provide the benefits of the reservation.
The castes that have been added into this list are - Nishad, Bind, Mallah, Kewat, Kashyap, Bhar, Dhivar, Batham, Fisherman, Prajapati, Rajbhar, Kahar, Pottar, Dhimar, Manjhi, Tuhaha and Gaur, which previously belonged to the other backward caste (OBC) category.
The Yogi government has directed the authorities to issue caste certificate to families belonging to these 17 castes, but with a rider that the final decision will depend on the orders of the court. The order issued by the Social Welfare Department says that this decision will be subject to the final order of the court. That is, if the final decision of the court comes to exclude these castes from the Scheduled Castes then they will be excluded from the Scheduled Castes' list.
BSP supremo said that there has been a similar demand in the past, but neither the present government nor the previous governments did anything about it.
Significantly, the Yogi Government has issued a mandate to include 17 upper castes of the state in the scheduled castes.