TAKING a stand contrary to fellow Dalit leader from Bihar and NDA ally Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) president Chirag Paswan on the issue of SC/ST sub-categorisation, Hindustani Awam Morcha (Secular) chief and Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi has backed the same saying that a lion’s share of quota beneficiaries right now come from “affluent” sections among the Scheduled Castes. Manjhi has also threatened to hold a rally with 18 of the 22 SC sub-groups identified in the Bihar caste survey if the Centre does not implement the August 1 Supreme Court ruling authorising states to carry out sub-categorisation of SCs and Scheduled Tribes (STs) for the purpose of reservations. “We demand a 10% quota for 18 sub-groups from the state and Central governments. If our demands are not conceded, we will call a big rally in Patna soon,” the former Bihar CM said on Tuesday at an event attended by members of the Musahar, Bhuiyan, Dom, Turi, Rajwar and other “poor” SC communities. Manjhi claimed that as per a rough estimate, “affluent SCs comprise 95% of the beneficiaries that avail the quota”. The BJP has maintained silence over the Supreme Court ruling dealing with sub-categorisation, only coming forward to oppose the Court’s suggestion that the creamy layer be excluded from the quota. Apart from demanding that the sub-categorisation be implemented, Manjhi has demanded that the creamy layer be kept out of quota benefits. While Manjhi belongs to the Musahar community, which is among the most deprived among the Dalits, the LJP is seen as a representative of the Paswans, a relatively better-off group. The 2022-23 Bihar caste survey said that 22 Dalit sub-groups make up 19.65% of the state’s population, of which Dusadhs (Paswans) and allied castes comprise 5.3% and Mochis, Ravidas, Rohidas and Chamkars collectively 5.2%. The HAM(S) chief has been trying to consolidate a majority of the remaining SC sub-groups – roughly 9% of the SC population – including the Musahars, Pans, Sawasis and Panars (1.7%), Pasis (0.9%), Bhuiyans (0.8%), Dhobis/ Rajaks (0.8%), Choupals (0.5%), Rajvars (0.27%), Doms (0.2%), Mehtars (0.19%), Bantar (0.14%), Nats (0.08%) and other sub-groups with even lesser populations. The survey also showed that 42.93% of the families among the SCs have a monthly income of less than Rs 6,000. They include more than half of the Musahar, Bhuiyan, Dom, Bhogta and Kanjar families. The numbers are 49.06% and 46.93% for Nat and Rajvar families respectively. In comparison, said the survey, 39.36% and 42.06% of families are “poor” among Dusadhs and the leather-working community respectively. In education, only 11.1% of SCs have passed Class 10 while only 0.28% of them are graduates. In the past too, Manjhi, the lone HAM(S) MP in the Lok Sabha, has been at loggerheads with the LJP, particularly its late patron Ram Vilas Paswan, over SC quota. Chirag, whose LJP (RV), is a bigger stakeholder in the NDA with five MPs, had expressed his concerns over the Supreme Court ruling to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and expressed his gratitude when the government distanced itself from the creamy layer exclusion suggestion. “The Prime Minister has assured that the reservation provisions made by Baba Saheb Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar will remain the same. There will be no tampering with the reservations. After the Supreme Court’s decision, my party also expressed its strong opposition to this decision. In such a situation, we express gratitude for this historic decision of the Prime Minister,” he posted on X.
