The decision of the Haryana government to make classification to provide reservation in Scheduled Caste (SC) categories has come under the scrutiny of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which has sought a response from the government of CM Nayab Singh Saini on this decision.
Last year in November 2024, the Haryana government had notified quota within quota by notifying two categories, Deprived Scheduled Caste and Other Scheduled Caste, within the Scheduled Caste category in the state. The main argument against this decision of the government is not based on qualitative data.
Chamar Mahasabha has filed a petition
A division bench of Justice Arun Palli and Justice Sudipti Sharma, taking cognizance of the petition filed by Haryana Pradesh Chamar Mahasabha, has sought a reply from the state government on the issue. The bench has also made Haryana State Scheduled Caste Commission a respondent in the case. The next hearing of the case will be on February 17. The petitioner association is aggrieved by the notification dated November 13, 2024, through which classification/sub-classification has been done in SC to provide reservation in government services by the State of Haryana.
The notification was issued on November 13, 2024. It was issued on the basis of the report submitted by the HSCSC on August 16, 2024.
Questions raised on data
The report by the commission was prepared in compliance with the Supreme Court (SC) judgment dated August 1, 2024 in the case titled ‘State of Punjab and others vs Davinder Singh and others’. It has been argued by the petitioner association that the report submitted by the commission in a period of two weeks is not supported by any quantitative data.
It does not explain any reason as to why a particular caste has been marked as Disadvantaged Scheduled Caste or Socially Advanced Group, i.e. Other Scheduled Castes, the petitioner claimed.
Demand for cancellation of notification
The petition further argued that the sub-classification has been done only on the basis of representation in state services, that too based on old, inadequate and dubious data such as Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011 and Parivar Pehchan Patra.
The petitioner body has sought directions to cancel the notification of November 13, 2024 and the report of August 16, 2024, terming them arbitrary and violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution.
How many SC castes are there in Haryana..
1. 15 castes in Other Scheduled Castes
15 castes have been included in Other Scheduled Castes. These include castes like Rehgar, Regar, Ramdasi, Ravidasi, Balahi, Batoi, Bhatoi, Bhambhi etc.
2. 66 castes in Deprived Scheduled Castes
66 castes have been included in Deprived Scheduled Castes (DSC). These include the Valmiki, Dhanak, Od, Bazigar, Mazhabi, Mazhabi Sikh, Adarsh-Aheriya, Aheri, Hari, Heri, Thori, Turi, Kori, Koli, Farrera-Rai Sikh, Pasi, Batwal, Barwala, Bauria, Bavariya, Megh, Meghwal, Khatik, Kabirpanthi, Julaha and other castes.