NEW DELHI: Congress is moving to confront the political challenge of Dalit consolidation by dividing SCs into competing sub-groups, with indications that the national commission is likely to give its nod to the proposal. Top sources said the National Commission for SCs, headed by Congress veteran Buta Singh, is inclined towards approving Justice Usha Mehra Commission's report which has recommended that SCs be divided into groups with the community's total job quota apportioned among them. The move is ostensibly aimed at resolving the complaint that a few dominant groups have cornered quota benefits, squeezing out others from the focus of affirmative action.
The view in the national panel, packed with Congress full-timers, is in consonance with the Congress which, as leader of UPA government, took the initiative for SC sub-categorization. The panel is led by Congress insider Buta Singh and includes party leaders Satya Behen, Mritunjay Naik and Mahendra Boddh. Insiders said the Congress-commission convergence is rooted in the urgency to win back the SC votebase to the party fold by striking at the political mobilisation of Dalits outside. On this front, Bahujan Samaj Party has emerged as a potent challenge to Congress at the pan-Indian level.
The reason for opposition to the proposal by a section of Dalit activists is exactly why Congress has been on overdrive to get it done. The former feel the division of SCs into sub-groups, with a separate quota, would turn them into rival groups while also reducing their stake in social consolidation. It would hit at the heart of exclusive Dalit banners like BSP, with the weakened unity among SCs the ideal recipe for Congress to try winning them back. The view in the SC commission is in favour of the proposal, with insiders saying the "Centre has made a strong case" for sub-categorization. Justice Mehra's recommendation is seen as well as backed by attorney-general Milon Banerjee's opinion that sub-categorization of SCs was not unconstitutional. It was done by Andhra Pradesh but struck down by a constitution bench of Supreme Court, prompting the state to seek central intervention. State chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy has emerged as a strong voice in the Congress in its favour.
The only hitch, sources said, is an earlier opinion given by the commission against the proposal. "But," a key person in the panel said, "the proposal is likely to get through." The commission will soon take up the Justice Mehra report which was sent to it by the union social justice ministry. After the SC panel's opinion, it would be up to the Centre to decide if it has to go ahead for a constitutional amendment. Rubbishing the claim that sub-division of SCs was violative of the Constitution, the A-G had opined that it could be done if there was unimpeachable evidence to prove that quota benefits were cornered by a few SC groups.
Justice Mehra report, in its study based on data from AP and submitted last month, has also argued that a few SCs have pushed out others from taking advantage of reservation policy. It has sought a constitutional amendment to facilitate division of SCs if states sent proposals, backed by the evidence from inquiry committees, to show that there was a skewed distribution of quota benefits.
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