Haryana government implements Supreme Court order on sub-categorization within scheduled castes
- In Reports
- 05:45 PM, Oct 18, 2024
- Myind Staff
Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Saini announced on Friday that the state will implement the Supreme Court's order regarding subcategories within the Scheduled Castes with immediate effect. This decision came after a cabinet meeting.
Saini said, "Respecting the Supreme Court's decision, we have decided to implement the order on sub-categorisation within Scheduled Castes from today itself," at a news conference following the cabinet meeting. Additionally, Saini gave farmers' decision updates, including how to buy commodities like millet and paddy at the Minimum Support Price (MSP). He said, "The procurement of paddy is underway in Haryana, and we have reviewed the process. I want to inform you that discussions were held on the procurement that has taken place in Haryana so far."
The Chief Minister went on to provide information on the purchase of crops at the state's Mandis, or markets, saying, "Our government is committed to purchasing every grain of the farmers' produce at MSP. We are a government that takes steps in the interests of the farmers. We will purchase grains with moisture levels below 17 percent. If the grain has higher moisture content, it will need to wait. In this ongoing Kharif season, as of 17 October, a total of 27,45,128 metric tonnes of paddy has arrived in Haryana's Mandis, out of which over 23 lakh metric tonnes have been procured."
As promised by Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, the results of the Haryana Staff Selection Commission's Group C and Group D tests were released following the installation of the BJP administration in Haryana. On August 17, Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini said that the state cabinet has accepted the Haryana Scheduled Caste Commission Report, marking a major step ahead of the state assembly elections. According to the study, Scheduled Castes (SCs) in Haryana would get a 20% reservation quota in government employment.
While speaking in a press conference in Chandigarh in August, Saini said, "Today, the Haryana Scheduled Caste Commission Report was accepted by the cabinet. A 20 per cent quota in government jobs will be reserved for scheduled castes, with the commission recommending that 10 per cent of this quota be allocated to the deprived scheduled castes," according to ANI. Additionally, he stressed that the regulation will be put into effect following the assembly elections in accordance with the Election Commission of India's code of conduct.
By a majority of 6:1, a seven-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court decided in a similar historic decision that it is acceptable to subclassify Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in order to give distinct quotas to the most disadvantaged members of these groups. A 2004 ruling in E V Chinnaiah vs. State of Andhra Pradesh that prohibited sub-classification for reservation reasons was overturned by the ruling.
DY Chandrachud, the Chief Justice of India (CJI), stated in his majority ruling, "Historical and empirical evidence demonstrates that the Scheduled Castes are a socially heterogeneous class. Thus, the State, in the exercise of the power under Articles 15(4) and 16(4), can further classify the Scheduled Castes if (a) there is a rational principle for differentiation; and (b) the rational principle has a nexus with the purpose of sub-classification."
The court emphasised that although governments may establish subcategories to remedy underrepresentation, they must support their actions with factual and measurable evidence. States must not act on "whims or political expediency," the ruling added, and such decisions are still subject to court review.
CJI DY Chandrachud, Justices BR Gavai, Vikram Nath, Bela M Trivedi, Pankaj Mithal, Manoj Misra, and Satish Chandra Sharma comprised the seven-judge panel. Bela Trivedi, a justice, disagreed with the majority opinion. The necessity to apply the creamy layer concept to SC/ST reservations—which presently only applies to Other Backward Classes (OBCs)—was emphasised by four of the six judges who supported sub-classification.
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