It’s now UP’s turn to give Jats OBC status

LUCKNOW, MARCH 2: The Ram Prakash Gupta Government today accepted the long-standing demand ofthe Jats in Uttar Pradesh for reservation. UP...

LUCKNOW, MARCH 2: The Ram Prakash Gupta Government today accepted the long-standing demand ofthe Jats in Uttar Pradesh for reservation. UP is the third state in the country after Rajasthan and Delhi to include Jats in the list of backward castes.

At a Cabinet meeting, presided over by the Chief Minister, it was decided toinclude Jats in the list of Other Backward Castes with a view to “ensure the community’s social and economic development.” Jats will be 78th caste to be included in the list.

The decision has triggered a controversy because the Government took thisdecision without taking the Backward Commission into confidence. The commission had told the Government it could not give its approval without conducting a survey.

Story continues below this ad

The Government sought the Law Department’s opinion on whether theproposal could be brought before the Cabinet without the Commission’sapproval. It was after the Law Department’s green signal that the Cabinettook a decision today.

The Samajwadi Party lashed out at the Government for including Jats in the OBC list. Its state president Ram Sharan Das said his party was not opposedto reservation for Jats but it should be separate from the OBCs. According tothe population, the reservation for the OBCs should be raised to 54 per cent, he said.

The Chief Minister had announced at Mathura on February 27 that hisGovernment had decided to include Jats in the OBC list.

In the Cabinet meeting today, Om Prakash Singh had suggested that the reservation issue should be deferred for some time but the Chief Minister ignored it.

Donald Trump may replace H-1B lottery with wage-based selection process

World9 hr ago

Days after hiking the fees for new H-1B applications to $100,000, the Donald Trump administration has proposed to overhaul the visa process for high-skilled non-immigrant workers. The Trump administration has suggested a wage-based selection process for the H-1B programme, instead of the current lottery system.

View all shorts

Live Blog