What is Yogi Adityanath government’s controversial OBC order?

Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Thawar Chand Gehlot, speaking in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday called Yogi Adityanath government’s order of issuing Scheduled Caste certificates to 17 OBC castes "not appropriate" and "unconstitutional". Yogi Adityanath government had decided to implement a 2017 order of the Allahabad High Court to issue SC certificates to the 17 Most Backward Castes (MBCs) in the state.

Thawar Chand Gehlot said including OBC castes in the SC list is in the domain of Parliament and asked the state government to follow proper procedures.

What is the Yogi Adityanath government’s order?

On June 24, UP government issued direction to include 17 OBC castes — Kashyap, Rajbhar, Dhivar, Bind, Kumhar, Kahar, Kewat, Nishad, Bhar, Mallah, Prajapati, Dhimar, Batham, Turha, Godia, Manjhi and Machua — among the Schedule Castes “after examination and based on documents in accordance with the rules” , which previously belonged to the Other Backward Castes (OBC) category. On Monday, BSP Chief Mayawati had slammed Yogi Adityanath government over its. “It's a fraud with people belonging to these 17 castes, as they won't receive the benefits of any of the categories as UP govt will not treat them as OBCs. And they won't receive the benefits of belonging to SC as no state govt can put them in or remove them from any of the categories through its orders,” Mayawati said at a press conference a day before.

The Samajwadi Party government, under Mulayam Singh Yadav, had first tried to implement the order in 2006, which was followed by Mayawati making the same effort during her regime from 2007-2012. But Mayawati had set a pre-condition SC quota must be increased for its implementation.

The move is likely to give the BJP an edge in the upcoming assembly bypolls in 12 constituencies in the state in the wake of several MLAs getting elected to the Lok Sabha in the recent parliamentary elections, say political observers.