The BJP and JD(U) leaders belonging to the ruling coalition have demanded that the perks of reservation also be extended to the poor belonging to upper castes. As reported, JD(U) leader and state Industry, IT Minister Jai Kumar Singh sought the formation of a commission for upper castes to fulfil the said demand.
He claimed that such a commission has already been set up in Bihar and thus demanded that it be replicated on a national level. This commission was set up by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar back in 2011, to address the grievances of the upper caste poor and ensure their socio-economic empowerment.
This commission though hasn’t yet made any reservation based recommendations for the upper caste poor.
As per Singh, he isn’t against reservation for the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes and OBCs, but also sought the same for the upper caste poor as their condition too was equally pitiable.
Even BJP MLA Neeraj Kumar Babloo has made a similar demand. While asserting that he wasn’t opposing his Dalit brothers but claimed that his Rajput committee too was in the need for reservations. JDU spokesperson Sunil Singh too has jumped into the fray and made a similar demand.
As per reports, Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) chief Ram Vilas Paswan has brought further clarity into the matter by demanding 15% reservation for the upper caste poor. While making this demand he also claimed that this has been his party’s demand for a long time.
Such a demand interestingly comes after parts of Northern India were marred by serious violence by supposed Dalit groups over Supreme Court’s decision to reign in the misuse of prevention of atrocities against SC/ST act.
If indeed implemented, this demand raises the question whether an additional quota for the upper caste poor would be created or would they instead be accommodated within the existing reservation slabs.
