Hansraj Gangaram Ahir. File. | Photo Credit: HANDOUT E MAIL
Ahead of the Assembly elections scheduled in Maharashtra this year, the National Commission for Backward Classes on Wednesday (October 9, 2024) recommended that at least seven communities and synonyms be included in the Central List of Other Backward Classes, which it will now create. they are eligible to qualify as OBC for Central scheme and appointment.
“We have cleared these communities to be added to the Central List after conducting hearings for the past six months. Three to four more communities will be given the green light in the coming weeks,” NCBC chairman Hansraj Gangaram Ahir said. The Hindu. Mr Ahir, a former Minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Union Cabinet, added that some of these communities had been waiting to be added to the Centre’s list for “over a decade”.
The communities cleared by the NCBC for addition to the Central OBC list on Wednesday have been categorized as OBCs in the Maharashtra State list and have benefited under State schemes and reservation in State appointments. These communities are, ā(i) Lodh, Lodha, Lodhi; (ii) Badgujar, (iii) Suryavanshi Gujar, (iv) Leve Gujar, Reve Gujar, Reva Gujar; (v) Finance; (vi) Bhoyar, Pawar (vii) Kapewar, Munnar Kapewar, Munnar Kapu, Telangi, Telangi, Pentarreddy, Bukekariā.
A Ministry of Social Justice statement issued late on Wednesday night said that the NCBC had sent a suggestion on October 9 to the Union government, recommending its inclusion in the Central List of OBCs. The government said that two members of the NCBC, including Chairman and Member Bhuvan Bhushan Kamal, held a hearing and signed a recommendation recommending its inclusion.
According to the modality for the inclusion finalized by the NCBC in 2022, the Commission’s advice on this matter “will be signed and confirmed by the Chairman, Vice-Chairman, and all the Members of the Commission”.
The Commission currently does not have a Deputy Chairman. Apart from Mr. Ahir, Bhuvan Bhushan Kamal serves in NCBC as one of the three mandated Members.
The government said that the Bench comprising Chairman Ahir and Member Kamal held a hearing on the seven communities and their synonyms on October 17, 2023, and July 26 this year, after the final decision on their inclusion was taken on (October 8) Tuesday.
Mr. Ahir said The Hindu“This community is part of a total of 21 communities that have requested to be added to the Central OBC list. The community is already in the State OBC list and the State government has made a request to add it to the Central list as well. Three or four more may be removed by the Commission in the next few weeks.
The NCBC chairman added that requests for inclusion are being considered exclusively with “current data”. “We ensure that the justification for community inclusion is supported by current data on socio-economic status. So, the requirement, as established by the Supreme Court, is that this data is at least 2015 or later, he said, citing the judgment in court. Ram Singh Vs Union of Indiacase.
This is the same judgment that the NCBC cited to prevent a request to merge nearly 80 communities, mostly Muslims, from West Bengal, while denying that there was “current data” on the backlog. And while the Supreme Court is now hearing community-related issues from West Bengal, Mr Ahir said: “We cannot proceed unless we have data on the community’s decline since 2015 or later.”
Determining backwardness according to Mandal Commission criteria requires information on several parameters of social backwardness, educational backwardness, and economic backwardness of each community.
Soon after he took charge of the NCBC in December 2022, Mr. Ahir said the Commission would focus on expediting pending requests for inclusion of communities in the Central OBC List. By June 2023, he said the Commission is working to clear about 80 castes from various states to be added to the Centre’s list.
Published – 09 October 2024 23:49 IST
