Question : INCLUSION IN SC LIST

(a) the norms/guidelines laid down for inclusion of a specific community in the list of Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes;

(b) whether the Government has received proposals from various States including Uttar Pradesh for inclusion of certain communities in the category of Scheduled Castes;

(c) if so, the details of the proposals received and cleared by the Government during each of the last three years and the current year, State/UT- wise;

(d) the details of the proposals still pending with the Government for consideration and the reasons for their pendency, State/UT-wise;and

(e) the time by which all the pending proposals are likely to be cleared along with steps taken by the Government to expedite its efforts in this regard?

MINISTER FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT (KUMARI SELJA)

(a) to (e) A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

Statement in answer to part (a) to (e) of the Lok Sabha Starred Question No.104 for 05.03.2013 by S/Shri K.D.Deshmukh and Bal Kumar Patel, Members of Parliament regarding `Inclusion in SC List`.

(a) Castes etc. are specified as Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), as per provisions of Articles 341 and 342 of the Constitution of India, respectively. The criteria followed for specification of a caste etc. as a SC/ST, is as under:-

SCs

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

STs

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

The Government of India 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 made by the concerned State Governments / Union Territory Administrations, which have been agreed to by the Registrar General of India (RGI) and the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), in the case of SCs and RGI and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, in the case of STs, are further processed in accordance with the provisions of clause (2) of Articles 341 and 342, respectively.

(b) Yes, Sir.

(c)&(d) Out of 21 proposals received from the concerned State Governments/Union Territory Administration, no new caste has been included in the list of SCs, during the last three years and the current year. Out of 21 proposals, 11 proposals have been returned to the concerned State/UT, for (i) further justification of the proposal in the light of observations of the RGI and (ii) for furnishing ethnographic information. Of the remaining 10 proposals, 9 have been referred to the RGI and 1 to NCSC, for their comments, as per the approved modalities.

(e) It is not possible to indicate any time frame in the matter, as in view of Article 341(2) of the Constitution, any modification in the list of Scheduled Castes, can be only done by an Act of Parliament.