The entire Opposition, comprising Samajwadi Party (SP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Congress staged a noisy walkout in the Uttar Pradesh legislative Assembly on Thursday after the state government refused to accept the demand of giving additional reservation to the de-notified Backwards from Scheduled Castes in the state.
These sub-castes include Kahaar, Kashyap, Kewat, Nishad, Bind, Bhar, Prajapati, Rajbhar, Batham, Gaur, Tura, Majhi, Mallah, Kumhar, Dheemar and Machua.
Raising the issue during the question hour, BSP member Sukhdeo Rajbhar demanded that the de-notified caste should be given all benefits including reservation as given to the SCs.
leader of the opposition and SP member Ram Govind Choudhury said that the SP governments in the past had sent couple of recommendations to include 17 sub-castes of OBCs into the SC category, but it was never considered by the Centre.
He said that as BJP was in power in the state as well as at the Centre, it should amend the Constitution to provide the facility.
State social welfare minister Rampati Shastri tried to pacify the Opposition and even spelt out the facilities given to the poor and other backwards including opening of special schools to educate their children in nine districts.
In three districts, all educational facilities were given to them free of cost but said that the government had no proposal to give reservation to them as it was a matter for the Parliament to decide.
The Opposition members then staged a walkout alleging that though people from the denotified caste had supported the BJP in the Assembly polls, they were being ignored.