BENGALURU: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday asserted that the Narendra Modi government will not back out from according constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC).
Addressing a massive convention of the Viswakarma community here, Singh said that to ensure social and economic justice to all backward castes in the country, the government has decided to accord constitutional status to NCBC. The Lok Sabha passed the Constitution (123rd Amendment) Bill, 2017, in April. However, Congress blocked the Bill in Rajya Sabha.
The Viswakarma community constitutes about 45 lakh of the population in the state. “You people need not beg for social justice. It’s your right.” The Modi government has constituted a committee for sub-categorisation of various castes in the OBC list to ensure justice to all small and marginalised castes, Singh said.
In Karnataka, 30 per cent reservation has been provided for OBCs but unfortunately only a few major backward castes have grabbed benefits under various government schemes and jobs, he said. The NCBC will examine requests and recommend inclusion/exclusion in the list of Other Backward Classes. In order to safeguard the interests of the socially and educationally backward classes more effectively, the Bill proposes to create a NCBC with constitutional status at par with the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes.