The criteria and procedure followed for inclusion of a community/ caste in the list of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes are as Under:-

(i) Criteria

Scheduled Castes(SCs):-

Extreme social, educational and economic backwardness arising out of traditional practice of untouchability.

Scheduled Tribes(STs):-

Indication of primitive traits, distinctive culture, geographical isolation, shyness of contact with community at large and backwardness.

Other Backward Classes (OBCs):-

Social, educational, economic backwardness and inadequate representation in the Central Government posts and services.

(iii) Procedure:-

SCs and STs are specified under the provisions of Articles 341 & 342 of the Constitution of India respectively. Further, Government has laid down Modalities in June, 1999, as amended in June,  2002 for processing of modifications in the lists of SCs and STs. The Modalities envisage that only such proposals of the concerned State Governments/ Union Territory Administrations, which have been agreed to by the Registrar General of India (RGI) and National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), in the case of SCs, and RGI & National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) in the case of STs, are further processed in accordance with provisions of clause (2) of Articles 341 and 342 respectively. Inclusion of communities/ castes in the Central List of OBCs is done on the advice of National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) as envisaged in Section (9) of NCBC Act, 1993.

(b) to (e): State-wise details of proposals received for inclusion of communities/ castes in the list of Scheduled Castes during last and current years are as under:-

Above proposals have been processed in accordance with Modalities. As the proposal in respect of Naik, Banjara, Dhobi, Dhobirajak castes of Haryana were not supported by the Registrar General of India (RGI), accordingly, they have been returned to the State Government to review or further justify their recommendation in the light of observations of the RGI. The proposals of Bind caste of Bihar, Kaikadi caste of Maharashtra and Kotekshatriya, Kotegara, Koteyava, Rama Kashtriya, Koteyara, Serugara, Servegara castes of Karnataka have been sent to the RGI for comments. The proposal of Chain community of West Bengal and Aheria, Aheri, Heri, Thori, Turi, Hari, Rai Sikh castes of Haryana have been sent to National Commission for Scheduled Castes for comments.

As any amendment in the list of Scheduled Castes can be made only by an Act of Parliament, in view of clause (2) of Article 341 of Constitution of India, no time frame can be assigned in the matter.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Shri Vijay Sampla in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha here today.

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NCJ/ASB