Govt neglected backward castes for 5 years, adding them to SC list is 'mere drama': Mayawati

Terming the Akhilesh Yadav government's assent to include 17 Other Backward Castes in the SC list as a "mere drama", BSP supremo Mayawati said on Thursday the decision is both "unfortunate and condemnable" and aimed at deceiving these communities. "After having neglected all the backward castes barring one in the past five years of its rule, the SP government is out to mislead them in the same vein as was done by the then Mulayam Singh Yadav government," she said in a statement.

UP Cabinet's assent for inclusion of 17 OBCs in SC list is a mere drama played just before the Assembly elections in the state, Mayawati said, adding this decision is both unfortunate and condemnable, aimed at deceiving these castes. This decision is against the law as it is only the Central government which can include any caste in the SC list, she said, adding after Mulayam government's decision on this issue, these castes were left in the lurch for they then belonged neither in the OBC nor in the SC list.

She claimed that it was the BSP government that succeeded the Mulayam Singh Yadav government which reverted the decision bringing the castes back in the backward list and sent a proposal to the Centre for inclusion only on condition of increasing the quota of the SC. This decision has been taken in perhaps the last Cabinet meeting of this government, Mayawati remarked.

A Cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav this morning cleared the proposal to include Kahar, Kashyap, Kewat, Nishad, Bind, Bhar, Prajapati, Rajbhar, Batham, Gaur, Tura, Majhi, Mallah, Kumhar, Dheemar and Machua sub-castes in the Scheduled Caste category.