Registrar General of India rejected 50% caste included in UP SC list

Half of the communities included unilaterally by the Uttar Pradesh government in the Scheduled Caste list through a controversial order have been rejected multiple times by the Registrar General of India, the authority on whom the Centre relies on for inclusion of castes in the SC list.

On June 24, the social welfare department of Uttar Pradesh had sent a letter to district magistrates and divisional commissioners to issue caste certificates as per a March 29, 2017 order of the Allahabad High Court. The letter said SC certificates should be issued to 17 OBCs—Kashyap, Rajbhar, Dhivar, Bind, Kumhar, Kahar, Kewat, Nishad, Bhar, Mallah, Prajapati, Dhimar, Batham, Turha, Godia, Manjhi and Machua—after scrutiny of documents. Records of the social justice and empowerment ministry have revealed that the Registrar General of India (RGI) has rejected the proposal of inclusion in the SC list of Kahar, Kashyap, Kewat and Mallah castes four times, the proposal of Bhar and Rajbhar castes thrice and those of Kumhar and Prajapati castes twice. The procedure for inclusion of a caste in the SC list of a state is laid down under Article 341(1) of the Constitution.