The Union Ministry of Social Justice introduced the ‘Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order (Amendment) Bill 2023’ in the Lok Sabha on 24 July 2023 to add two sub-communities belonging to the Mahar community of Chhattisgarh to the state’s Scheduled Castes list. Bill Synonyms of Mahar community The inclusion of these two sub-communities, as per the rules, was first proposed by the state government. After this, the Office of the Registrar General of India and the National Commission for Scheduled Castes gave their approval for this, which allowed the introduction of this bill.
Currently more than 12% of Chhattisgarh’s population is classified as a Scheduled Caste. In 2002 the Center agreed to grant SC status to the ‘Mahar community’. Since the proposal was from the Madhya Pradesh government, the three major communities in Madhya Pradesh were included, but the two sub-communities living in Chhattisgarh were left out.
Constitutional provisions regarding Scheduled Castes
- According to the Constitution Article 366(24), ‘Scheduled castes include such castes, races or tribes or parts of such castes, races or tribes or youths among them, which for this purpose are included in Art. Scheduled castes are considered under 341.
Scheduled Tribes Bill
- The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Fifth Amendment) Bill will be introduced in the Rajya Sabha by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. It aims to include Dhanuhar, Dhanuvar, Kisan, Saunra, Saunra and Binjhiya communities in the list of STs in Chhattisgarh. This bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha in December 2022.