As the assembly elections in Delhi approach, the issue of including the Jat community in the central OBC list has become heated. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal recently accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Central Government of suppressing this demand for the last 10 years.
However, BJP hit out at AAP, saying that the Delhi government should have first passed this proposal in the Assembly and then sent it to the Centre. Now the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) has also refuted the claims of Aam Aadmi Party on this issue.
What did the National Backward Classes Commission say?
National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) Chairman Hansraj Ahir clarified that:
“In the last 10 years, no proposal has come from the Delhi government demanding inclusion of Jats in the central OBC list.”
“If such a proposal had come, the Commission would definitely have considered it.”
This statement rejects AAP’s claim that the Kejriwal government was deliberately suppressing the issue.
Why did Kejriwal raise this issue before the elections?
There is a sizeable population of Jat community in areas like Kishangarh, Munirka, Narela in Delhi.
Jat voters can play a decisive role in Outer Delhi and South Delhi.
It is believed that AAP raised this issue to woo the Jats, so that they can get the benefit of Jat votes.
Assembly elections are to be held in Delhi on February 5, so this issue has suddenly become the center of election debate.
By what process are communities included in the OBC list?
National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) Chairman Hansraj Ahir explained what is the process of including any community in the central OBC list of any state:
1⃣ First of all the state government has to conduct a study on the backwardness of the concerned community.
2⃣ On the basis of the study report, the state government passes the proposal in the Assembly.
3⃣ After this the proposal is sent to the Central Government.
4⃣ National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) reviews this proposal.
5⃣ After the approval of the Commission, the Central Government can implement it.
But according to NCBC, the Delhi government did not follow this process and blamed the central government without even sending the proposal.
Was this proposal rejected in the UPA government also?
Hansraj Ahir revealed that even during the tenure of the UPA government, there was a proposal from Delhi to include Jats in the central OBC list, but it was rejected.
In 2010, the Delhi government sent this proposal to the Center for the first time.
The proposal was sent again before the Lok Sabha elections in 2014, but was again rejected.
On February 26, 2014, Backward Classes Commission member AK Mangotra had sent a 138-page report to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
In this report, Delhi, UP, Bihar, Rajasthan, Himachal, MP, Uttarakhand and Gujarat were advised to reject the proposal to include Jats in the OBC list.
This means that this issue was in controversy not only during the time of Modi government but also during the time of UPA.
Will Jat community get OBC status?
AAP wants Jats of Delhi to be included in the OBC list.
NCBC says that Delhi government did not send any official proposal.
BJP is calling this issue an election strategy of AAP.
This proposal has also been rejected in the UPA government.
Now the big question is whether the AAP government will take this issue seriously and start the process of implementing it, or was it just election rhetoric?
