Ram Vilas Paswan, Kushwaha hail OBC quota sub-categorisation

Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan (PTI)

HAILING THE government’s decision on sub-categorisation of the OBC quota as “historical”, Union ministers from Bihar Ram Vilas Paswan and Upendra Kushwaha, both votaries of Mandal politics, said this would help empower the most backward classes that are lagging in reaping reservation benefits. The decision could have a cascading effect on the political course in many states, including Bihar, where the benefits of OBC reservation have been mostly corned by a few dominant castes among the OBCs.

Paswan, a Dalit leader who had in the past strongly objected to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s decision to constitute a Mahadalit Commission, also said the sub-categorisation in the OBC quota does not mean that the same will happen in the case of Scheduled Castes too.

“There is no question of any categorisation in the Scheduled Castes quota. Results have not been good in states, including Bihar, where this (sub-categorisation among Dalits) has been done,” he said. Kushwaha said the decision to carve out a separate quota for extremely backward castes from the OBC quota is a crucial step in the direction of social justice. Kushwaha also welcomed the decision to increase the creamy layer for OBC reservation from the existing amount of Rs 6 lakh to Rs 8 lakh annually.