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Hans India
09-08-2025
- Politics
- Hans India
Saini's multiple welfare initiatives for Goswamis
Chandigarh: On the auspicious occasion of Goswami Tulsidas Jayanti, a grand state-level function was organised on Friday at Sant Kabir Kutir, the residence of Haryana Chief Minister, Nayab Singh Saini. The event witnessed the participation of prominent representatives from the Goswami community along with a large gathering from across the state. The Chief Minister made a significant announcement, stating that the Haryana Government will write to the OBC Commission recommending the inclusion of the Gosain community in the Central OBC list. He further announced that one prominent 'Chowk' (roundabout) in the state and a large library to be established in Hisar will be named after Goswami Tulsidas Ji. Additionally, the Chief Minister announced a grant of Rs.31 lakh from his discretionary fund for the Dharamshala of the Goswami Samaj Sabha being constructed in Kurukshetra. DCs to treat all plaints with seriousness Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini directed all Deputy Commissioners to treat every public complaint received under the Samadhan Shivirs, whether minor or major, with utmost seriousness and ensure their prompt resolution. He said that timely redressal would not only provide relief to the public but also strengthen trust in the administration. The Chief Minister was chairing a meeting with the Deputy Commissioners via video conferencing here today, during which the progress of grievance redressal under the Samadhan Shivirs was reviewed. Eligibility certificates to Prajapati community Haryana Chief Minister Saini will distribute 'Eligibility Certificates' (Patrata Pramaan Patra) to eligible families of the Kumhar/Prajapati community at a state-level ceremony to be held in Kurukshetra on August 13. Giving information, a government spokesperson said along with the Chief Minister, various ministers of the state, Members of Parliament, and senior public representatives will distribute certificates to eligible families at district-level programmes across all districts. He informed that Haryana Vidhan Sabha Speaker Harvinder Kalyan will distribute eligibility certificates in Karnal district, while Vidhan Sabha Deputy Speaker Sh. Krishan Lal Middha will do so in Jind district. Haryana sets new benchmark in forensics Haryana Government has taken numerous steps to upgrade State and Regional FSL infrastructure, the State is fully geared to meet the demands of the New Criminal Laws, emerging as a model of capacity, and scientific precision. While stating this here today, Additional Chief Secretary, Home Department, Dr. Sumita Misra, said that Haryana's Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) has significantly reduced its backlog of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) cases. The FSL has cut its pending cases significantly. The lab is now processing cases faster than new ones are being submitted. This impressive progress puts Haryana on a path to having zero pending cases by September 2025, an achievement that is uncommon for forensic labs in the country.
United News of India
16-06-2025
- Politics
- United News of India
Congress always betrayed, suppressed OBCs: BJP on fresh caste census in Karnataka
New Delhi, June 16 (UNI) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday criticised the Congress party for suppressing the rights of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) following Karnataka government's decision to scrap an earlier caste survey and conduct a fresh one, which involved a public expenditure of over Rs 165 crore. Addressing a press conference here, Union Minister Bhupender Yadav alleged Congress has historically betrayed the OBC community by ignoring recommendations of commissions like the Kaka Kalelkar and Mandal Commissions aimed to empower the OBCs community. "The OBC community has always been betrayed by the Congress. If the Congress had genuine intent, it would have formed a new commission after scrapping the Kaka Kalelkar Commission on empowering the OBCs ... Instead, they dismissed the commission's report and continued to rule... 'Later, when the Mandal Commission was constituted and the Supreme Court upheld its legality, the Congress worked to weaken the OBC Commission,' Yadav said at a press conference here. He also pointed out internal contradictions in the Congress, noting that Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the survey decision was directed by Congress leadership, not the state government, likening this to previous interventions by Sonia Gandhi-led bodies during the UPA regime. 'Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the decision for a new caste survey was not his government's but the Congress leadership's. Such an intervention of the party in the government's decision-making? Is there interference from Sonia Gandhi-headed National Advisory Council which played a key role in the UPA government. There should be an accountability about the public expenditure...,' he said. The BJP's criticism of the Congress over the OBC caste survey in Karnataka also comes on the same day that the central government issued a notification for the 16th Caste Census, scheduled for 2027. Yadav credited the BJP government for initiatives benefiting OBCs, including granting constitutional status to the OBC Commission and introducing reservations for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS). He praised PM Modi's welfare schemes for lifting millions out of poverty. He said, "It was the BJP government that granted reservation to the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS). Congress has never stood with the poor, OBCs, or SC/ST communities. Congress MP & LoP Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, calls Karnataka an ideal state — but the timing and internal contradictions of their stance show that social justice is merely a showpiece for Congress, not a genuine commitment. Misleading the OBC community has been Congress' policy; delivering justice to them has never been their intent..." "We thank our PM for addressing the long-standing issue of reservations in admissions to central schools... Through his economic welfare schemes, crores of people have been lifted out of poverty," said the senior BJP leader. Responding to Congress' demand to adopt the Telangana census model for caste data, Yadav took a jab at the Opposition, remarking, 'If that's the case, then why haven't they are not implementing the Telangana model in Karnataka, where they are in power?' UNI AJ SS
United News of India
16-06-2025
- Politics
- United News of India
BJP accuses Congress of suppressing OBCs rights
New Delhi, June 16 (UNI) Soon after the government issued a notification declaring the 16th Caste Census to begin from 2027, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday accused the opposition Congress party of always cheating and suppressing the rights of OBCs. "The OBC community has always been betrayed by the Congress. If the Congress had genuine intent, it would have formed a new commission after scrapping the Kaka Kalelkar Commission... Instead, they dismissed the commission's report and continued to rule... 'Later, when the Mandal Commission was constituted and the Supreme Court upheld its legality, the Congress worked to weaken the OBC Commission,' Union Minister Bhupender Yadav said at a press conference here. While slamming the Opposition party for "suppressing OBC rights and caste census reports", Minister Yadav gave credit to his party for taking various initiatives for the community including granting constitutional status to the OBC Commission and implementing welfare schemes. He said, "It was the BJP government that granted reservation to the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS). Congress has never stood with the poor, OBCs, or SC/ST communities. Congress MP & LoP Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, calls Karnataka an ideal state — but the timing and internal contradictions of their stance show that social justice is merely a showpiece for Congress, not a genuine commitment. Misleading the OBC community has been Congress's policy; delivering justice to them has never been their intent..." Rather, he said, Congress always worked towards weakening the OBC Commission and delaying the implementation of the Mandal Commission report. "We thank our PM for addressing the long-standing issue of reservations in admissions to central schools... Through his economic welfare schemes, crores of people have been lifted out of poverty," said the senior BJP leader. He also pointed out loopholes on the proposed census survey announced by the Congress-led Karnataka Government a few days ago, alleging that the Congress is using 'social justice for electoral engineering rather than genuine commitment.' In response to a reporter's question about the Congress party's demand to adopt the Telangana model for the census to gather socio-economic data of all castes, Yadav took a jab at the Opposition, remarking, 'If that's the case, then why are they not implementing the Telangana model in Karnataka, where they are in power?'
Time of India
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Make ads, invite applications for backward class tag: HC to panel
Kolkata: Calcutta High Court on Tuesday directed West Bengal Commission for Backward Classes to make advertisements down to the gram panchayat level, inviting applications for inclusion of a community into the backward class category . Tired of too many ads? go ad free now A division bench of justices Tapabrata Chakraborty and Rajasekhar Mantha took exception to the OBC Commission acting on applications already received. Counsel for the petitioner, Subir Sanyal, pointed out that the commission was conducting public hearings only from the applications received from 113 communities. The division bench had earlier struck down categorisation of 37 and then 77 classes under Schedule I of the state list of OBCs. "This is a tailor-made process," Sanyal said. Justice Mantha wanted to know whether the commission invited applications from communities for inclusion under the state OBC category. Senior counsel for the commission submitted that West Bengal Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993, didn't provide for this. "The commission shall examine requests for inclusion of any class of citizens as a backward class in the lists and hear complaints of over-inclusion or under-inclusion of any backward class in such lists and tender such advice to the state govt as it deems appropriate," the senior counsel submitted, reading out Section 9 (1). The senior counsel argued that no application was required to be invited for the purpose. Justice Mantha reminded the senior counsel about the earlier order in which the division bench gave directions to conduct a fair, transparent and just procedure to initiate the identification process. Advocate general Kishore Datta urged the bench to allow the commission to continue with the identification process based on the 11-point module of the Mandal Commission. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Justice Mantha observed that the commission started the process in a different way. "We don't want to stall the identification process. You make an advertisement up to the gram panchayat level and involve block development officers," he said. The advocate general said he would submit details of the identification procedure at the next hearing on May 19 after getting instructions from the state . Counsel for the petitioner also complained that some govt departments were flouting the affidavit submitted by the chief secretary to the division bench that no recruitment would be made from the 114 communities struck down from the state OBC list. The division bench directed the petitioner to file an affidavit stating which departments went against the affidavit.
NDTV
05-05-2025
- Politics
- NDTV
Why A Robust Caste Census Matters
On the birth anniversary of Dr B.R. Ambedkar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reaffirmed his government's unwavering commitment to the ideals of social justice and equity. In line with this vision, the decision to undertake a caste census represents yet another historic step towards empowering India's underprivileged communities. The Congress party, by contrast, has a long and troubled history of treating caste not as a tool for empowerment but as a vehicle for short-term electoral gains. Indira Gandhi, despite projecting slogans like " Na jaat par na paat par, mohar lagegi haath par" staunchly opposed a caste census. Her successor, Rajiv Gandhi, delayed the implementation of the Mandal Commission report for years and, more significantly, failed to grant constitutional status to the OBC Commission - a status later conferred under Prime Minister Modi's leadership. Notably, Rajiv Gandhi's longest speech in Parliament was not in support of social justice but in opposition to the Mandal recommendations. Today, Rahul Gandhi and his supporters attempt to claim credit for the Modi government's decision to conduct a caste census. A closer examination of history, however, tells a different story. The practice of caste enumeration in India began in 1881 and continued until 1931. Although caste data was collected in 1941, it was never published. After Independence, from 1951 to 2011, census exercises recorded data only for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, systematically excluding Other Backward Classes (OBCs). Congress's ambiguous stance on reservation has surfaced repeatedly throughout history. A former Congress Prime Minister reportedly referred to reservation beneficiaries as "fools", underlining the party's dismissive attitude towards genuine empowerment. The UPA government, led by Manmohan Singh, promised a caste census in 2011 but failed to deliver. Instead, it carried out the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) - a diluted effort more concerned with political optics than delivering social justice. The SECC was riddled with errors; over eight crore mistakes were reported. Despite significant expenditure, the caste data collected was never released to the public. Operational inefficiencies and the scale of inaccuracies rendered the entire exercise futile. Congress's attempts at caste surveys at the state level have fared no better. In Telangana, a recent caste census was marred by glaring irregularities. Forms meant for data collection were found discarded on roads and picked up by ragpickers. Many citizens reported that enumerators never visited their homes, while others cited a lack of trust in the government as a reason for refusing to provide information. Consequently, the OBC population was grossly underreported. The Karnataka experience under Congress was similarly chaotic. In Siddaramaiah's first term as Chief Minister, a caste survey led by H. Kantharaj, then chairman of the Backward Classes Commission, cost the exchequer ₹165 crore. Yet, the findings - leaked in 2016 - sparked panic within the Congress leadership. The data upset established political assumptions: Lingayats were found to be far fewer than previously estimated, and Vokkaligas also registered lower numbers. The final report was placed before the Karnataka Cabinet only in April 2025 - nearly a decade after the survey - and was conveniently withdrawn by the Congress government at the last minute. In contrast, the BJP has consistently advocated for genuine social justice. In 2010, it supported the idea of a caste census, recognising its necessity for equitable policymaking. Unfortunately, the then Congress-led UPA government lacked the political will to carry out a credible exercise. Prime Minister Modi's decision to integrate the caste census with the decadal population census is a strategic masterstroke. Conducted under the constitutional framework of Article 246, the census will carry the force of law, ensuring robustness, scientific rigour, and credibility - qualities absent in state-level surveys driven by political expediency. The aim is not to divide Hindus into narrower vote banks, as the opposition has often attempted, but to ensure caste representation without promoting caste domination. It is about identifying and uplifting communities that have remained marginalised despite constitutional promises. By bringing them into the mainstream, the caste census will strengthen the social fabric of the Hindu community, not weaken it. In an era where social justice must be defined by empowerment and opportunity rather than tokenism, Prime Minister Modi's caste census initiative represents a major leap forward. It is a move rooted not in electoral calculation, but in the spirit of Dr Ambedkar's vision: that true social justice can only be realised when opportunity is extended to every citizen, regardless of their social origins. The BJP's approach reaffirms this commitment - shifting the narrative from caste as an instrument of division to caste as a means of genuine upliftment. India's future lies not in fragmented identities, but in the creation of a more equitable society, built on the firm foundations of accurate data, sound policymaking, and resolute political will.
