A bill to include certain communities in the list of Scheduled Castes (SC) in Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Kerala and West Bengal was passed by the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
Social Justice Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot replied to the debate on the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2016, and said the Registrar General of India and the National Commission for Scheduled Castes have conveyed their concurrence to the proposed modifications.
He said the state governments of Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Kerala, Odisha and West Bengal have proposed certain modifications in the list of Scheduled Castes, "by way of inclusion of certain communities modification and removal of area restriction in respect of certain communities and exclusion of certain communities in case of Odisha".
The minister said that in accordance with the provisions of article 341 of the Constitution, six Presidential Orders have been issued specifying SCs in respect of various States and union territories and these orders have been amended from time to time.
