Govt mulling quota benefits to OBCs in proportion to population

Amid growing population of SC/STs in the country, the government on Thursday said it is mulling over providing reservation benefits to backward classes in proportion to their population.

To concerns over losing of SC/ST status due to migration to other states, the Centre said it was up to the state governments to recognise such castes and provide benefits. The government said it was trying to release the caste census, conducted separately, at the earliest.

“One member demanded for reservation provision in proportion to the population of backward classes. We are thinking on that. If you can create an environment, we can do this,” Social Justice Minister Thaawar Chand Gehlot said in the Rajya Sabha while replying to a debate on the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2016. The Bill, which was passed by the Rajya Sabha, seeks to amend the Constitution to include certain castes in the list of SC in five states. It was earlier passed in the Lok Sabha.

The Bill includes certain castes such as Sais, Aheria and Peruvannan in the SC list of Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Kerala, Odisha and West Bengal.

K Somaprasad (CPI-M) had demanded that the government should consider increasing quota benefits in proportion to the growing population of backward classes.