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Haryana implemented sub-classification within the Scheduled Castes (SC) for reservation in government jobs on Tuesday, as announced by Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini in the Vidhan Sabha. The announcement was made on the first day of Haryana’s winter session, with Saini stating, “The sub-classification within the Scheduled Castes, as allowed by the Supreme Court, has been implemented in Haryana from 5 pm today.”
This decision holds significance ahead of the upcoming Maharashtra elections, where a similar panel for SC sub-classification had been set up just before election announcements, suggesting that the BJP may make this part of its national strategy to counter the Opposition’s caste-census focus.
On August 1, the Supreme Court had ruled that states have the constitutional authority to create sub-classifications within the SC category, recognising its social heterogeneity. Following this, the Saini-led government in Haryana approved the sub-classification decision in its first cabinet meeting on October 18.
The Haryana State Commission for SCs had recommended dividing the SC reservation into two categories: Deprived Scheduled Castes (DSC) and Other Scheduled Castes (OSC). The DSC category, which includes 36 castes such as Dhanaks, Balmikis, Mazhabi Sikhs, and Khatiks, would receive 50 percent of the SC job quota, citing inadequate representation in government jobs. Castes such as Chamar, Jatia Chamar, Rehgar, Raigar, Ramdasi, Ravidasi, Jatav, Mochi, and Ramdasia would fall under OSC.
The cabinet had initially approved the recommendations on August 17, later formalising the sub-classification decision in its October 18 meeting, just after the BJP’s third consecutive electoral win. In 2020, Haryana had also introduced the Haryana Scheduled Castes (Reservation in Admission in Educational Institutions) Act, which reserved 50 percent of the SC seats in higher education institutions for the DSC category.
In the recent assembly elections, the BJP won eight of the 17 seats reserved for SCs, compared to five out of 17 in 2019.
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