Haryana government led by Saini implemented sub-classification of Scheduled Castes.
The Nayab Singh Saini-led Haryana Cabinet in its first meeting announced that the state government will implement the Supreme Court order on sub-categorisation of Scheduled Castes (SCs) with immediate effect.
The move, a first in the country, comes after a Supreme Court order to further strengthen the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Dalit outreach in the state.
It has earmarked 20% reservation for Scheduled Castes in government jobs and education.
Before the assembly elections, and a fortnight after the Supreme Court’s August 1 verdict on sub-categorisation of SCs, the Saini government had approved the report of the Haryana Scheduled Caste Commission.
The commission recommended a 10% sub-quota for ‘deprived scheduled castes’ in state government jobs.
In 2020, a bill was introduced by the Haryana government to increase the sub-quota for ‘deprived SCs’ in government educational institutions within the 20% quota to 50%.
It identified 36 scheduled castes as ‘deprived SCs’, excluding the dominant Jatavs.
The Bill said the share of “deprived SCs” in state government jobs is less than 6%, “even though their population is about 11% of the total population of the State.”
It cited the 2011 census, which found that 46.75% of the “deprived SCs” were illiterate, and said their social and educational backwardness makes them a distinct class of citizens unable to compete with the dominant Scheduled Castes.
