Yogi govt's caste move unconstitutional, says Centre

The Centre on Tuesday warned the Uttar Pradesh government against going ahead with its decision to include 17 communities belonging to the OBCs in the Scheduled Castes (SC) list, saying such a move was not in accordance with the Constitution.

Only the Parliament has the right to shift caste category, said Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot in the Rajya Sabha after the matter was raised by Bahujan Samaj Party member Satish Chandra Misra.

“This is not proper,” said Gehlot, adding that if the state government wants to go ahead with its proposal, it should follow due procedure and send a proposal to the Centre.

On June 24, the Yogi government directed district officials to issue caste certificates to families belonging to 17 OBCs—Kashyap, Rajbhar, Dhivar, Bind, Kumhar, Kahar, Kewat, Nishad, Bhar, Mallah, Prajapati, Dhimar, Batham, Turha, Godia, Manjhi and Machua.

The move is seen as an attempt to strengthen the BJP's base among the OBC communities that have been demanding SC status for over a decade.

The decision had created a furor in the state with BSP supremo Mayawati calling it unconstitutional. She said Article 341 of the Constitution bars state governments from doing it.

"Part one of Article 341 clearly states that the President can specify any group to SC category through a public notification on Governor's advice. Part 2 of the Article says that if notification is released under part one of the Article, it can only be changed by Parliament. Part 2 states that Parliament can specify, include or exclude any group from SC category," she said on Monday.