Social justice panel submits report, all eyes on Yogi govt’s next move

All eyes will be set on chief minister Yogi Adityanath as he, along with his team, studies the report of the Other Backward Classes Social Justice Committee that the committee’s chairman justice (retired) Raghvendra Kumar submitted to him on Wednesday.

“Yes, justice (retired) Raghvendra Kumar committee has submitted its report to chief minister Yogi Adityanath. The state government will study the report before a decision is taken about implementing its recommendations in the coming months,” said a senior officer of the state government.

At a time when the BJP is trying to woo the ‘Ati Pichhra’ (most backwards) among the other backward classes (OBCs) and “ati-pichhra” (most Dalits) among the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, the report may come in handy for the Yogi government to woo the most deprived sections in the society ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

In its over 300-page report, the five-member committee has evaluated the socio-economic and educational backwardness of different classes/castes among the backward sections and their share in reservation in government jobs. It has suggested measures to make the reservation system more effective for different backward classes/castes, keeping in view the need for social justice.

Although specific recommendations of the committee were being kept a closely guarded secret, people familiar with the matter said the report was based on the information provided to it by different government departments. The state government had informed the committee the Kurmis and the Yadavs were dominant among the OBC officers in the state civil services.

On March 22, the chief minister had said, “We are considering giving reservation to “Ati Pichhra” (the most backward among the other backward classes) and “Ati Dalit” (most deprived among the Dalits). A committee is being constituted (to make recommendations).”

Asked whether the Yogi government will implement the report ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha polls, UP BJP general secretary Vijay Pathak said, “The Yogi government will take a call on implementation of the report. The BJP, however, has been in favour of development of all the sections of the society. We do not consider the caste factor when the government schemes are implemented. We want uplift of the poor.”

Although set up in pursuance of the Allahabad high court orders in different cases, the committee came in focus in the backdrop of the chief minister’s announcement. The state government later renamed the committee as the OBC Social Justice Committee and asked all the departments to provide all the information sought by the committee about share of various castes in government jobs in the state.