Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati paid tribute to the party founder, late Kanshi Ram, on his 91st birth anniversary. She emphasized the BSP's commitment to action over words, highlighting the party's focus on the upliftment of backward classes. Mayawati also referred to herself as the "iron lady" and emphasized the importance of understanding the power of one's vote.
Important quotes from the Supreme Court judgment upholding the validity of the 103rd Constitution amendment providing 10 per cent reservation to people belonging to the economically weaker sections (EWS) in admissions and government jobs.
In its reply, the state government said reservation solely on the basis of religion is also contrary to the principles of social justice and the concept of social justice aims to protect those who are deprived and discriminated against within the society.
The National Democratic Alliance was set to sweep the Bihar assembly polls, surging ahead in over 200 of 243 seats on Friday with the Bharatiya Janata Party emerging as single largest party with about 90 per cent strike rate, reaffirming the popularity and campaign clout of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was the face of the ruling alliance through the poll battle in the highly sensitive political state.
Reservation should not continue for an indefinite period so as to become a "vested interest" and the vision of the framers of the Constitution that there should be a "time span" for such quotas has not been achieved, the Supreme Court said on Monday in its majority judgment while upholding the EWS quota.
Thakur's tenure as chief minister is best remembered for implementation of the recommendations of the Mungeri Lal Commission, whereby quotas for backward classes were introduced in the state in 1978. This panel was the forerunner of the Mandal Commission. Both Mungeri Lal and B P Mandal were from Bihar, which has a long history of socialist struggles.
The Maoists in Bastar went from one village to another with kits providing badly needed medical intervention. The medical help was one key reason why the tribals were attracted to the Maoists, points out M R Narayan Swamy.
Chief Justice of India Bhushan Ramkrishna Gavai spoke about Dr. B R Ambedkar's views on the supremacy of the Constitution and the need for an independent judiciary.
The BJP-led NDA leaders have attacked RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav for his statement that Bihar assembly polls is a fight between 'backward versus forward' forces.
The Department of Social Justice and Empowerment has received Rs 13,611 crore in the Union Budget announced on Saturday, while the allocation for disability welfare now stands at Rs 1,275 crore.
A substantial number of castes and groups are already placed in the reserved category, getting about 52 per cent of reservations altogether. It would be completely inequitable to place the Maratha community in the Other Backward Class (OBC) category, it said.
The Supreme Court, examining whether states can sub-classify Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes for grant of quota inside quota, on Wednesday said all SCs and STs may not be homogeneous in terms of their sociological, economic, education and social status.
A Division Bench headed by Chief Justice K Vinod Chandran passed the order on a bunch of petitions which had opposed the legislations brought by the Nitish Kumar government in November 2023.
Maratha activist Manoj Jarange on Tuesday launched a fresh indefinite fast, his sixth in a span of over a year, to press for the demand for reservation to his community under the OBC category.
The court further held that the state's legislative competence is not affected by the amendment to Article 342(a) of the Constitution of India.
The bench, which asked Jain to withdraw the plea filed against a Delhi high court order that dismissed a writ petition challenging the registration and recognition of the AIMIM by the Election Commission (EC), granted liberty to the petitioner to file a writ petition, wherein he may make a wider prayer for reforms in respect of political parties on different counts.
A special cabinet meeting in Karnataka convened to discuss the contentious Social and Educational Survey report, popularly known as 'caste census', ended without a decision. The cabinet will reconvene on May 2 to discuss the report further and make a final decision.
'The moment the BJP loses a state, it announces some policy which never takes off.'
Activist Manoj Jarange has criticized the Maharashtra government for extending the permission for his hunger strike for Maratha reservation by only one day. He warned that Marathas from across the state will come to Mumbai if their quota demand is not met quickly, threatening to escalate the protest and stop taking water in the next two days.
'As soon as the BJP feels they are going to lose power, they will publish the caste census data of 2011 and conduct the caste census of 2021.'
Mundane as it may seem, this is in some ways a metaphor for the challenges facing the nation, argue Arvind Subramanian and Devesh Kapur in their new book, A Sixth Of Humanity.
'This is going to generate a new debate on reservation because the quota for Economically Weaker Sections is 10%, and that is for nearly 16% of the population.' 'For 16% you are giving 10%. This is set to raise eyebrows among the OBCs after the caste survey.'
Manoj Jarange's protest for Maratha quota at Mumbai's Azad Maidan enters its third day. Jarange is demanding 10% quota for Marathas and recognition as Kunbis. Maharashtra ministers suggest the community avail the existing EWS quota.
The BJP's surprise announcement of a caste census in the next census has sparked political debate, particularly in Bihar where the issue of backward empowerment holds significant electoral weight. The move is seen as a strategic maneuver by the ruling party to counter opposition efforts to mobilize support among disadvantaged sections of society. The decision is also viewed as a recognition of the growing influence of OBC politics in India.
Haryana assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed a bill to provide reservation to Jats and five other communities in government jobs and educational institutions
The survey will encompass various indicators of backwardness such as occupation, educational qualification along with the type of educational institutions attended by members of the households to gauge the social and educational conditions of the backwardness in Odisha, the official said.
The DMK claimed in its plea that reservation is not a poverty alleviation programme but is more in the nature of social justice to uplift communities that have not had access to education or employment for centuries.
With the Bihar government releasing the findings of its caste survey, pressure seems to be mounting on the Karnataka government, especially within the ruling Congress, to make the state's Socio-economic and Educational Census, popularly known as the 'caste census', public.
Quota activist Manoj Jarange has announced that he will start an indefinite hunger strike at Azad Maidan in Mumbai from January 20 to intensify his demand of reservation for the Maratha community.
Jarange is a strident critic of the senior BJP leader and has routinely accused him of being the main obstacle in the Maratha community's quest for reservations.
'If the RJD loses it would be out of power for nearly 25 years. Meanwhile, the JD-U will have survival issues if it gets less number of seats.'
'In times of adversity, families unite, but the reverse is happening in the Lalu family.'
The social and educational conditions of 208 OBC communities enlisted by the state government will be collected during the survey, which will be followed by a special drive to ensure that none were left out across the state, an official said.
The bench said, given the pressing nature of the crisis, particularly in cities like Kota, Jaipur, Sikar, Vishakhapatnam, Hyderabad, and Delhi, where students migrate in large numbers, immediate interim safeguards are the call of the day.
'There were deep discussions within the Sangh Parivar before this decision was made.' 'They were convinced, and only then did the Modi government proceed with the caste census.'
While other backward classes had a share of 9 per cent, there were no scheduled tribe billionaires.
Activists Laxman Hake and Navnath Waghmare, who have been sitting on a hunger strike at Wadigodri village in Jalna district since June 13, did not allow doctors to check their health or administer intravenous fluids.
'It will split people and create caste clashes. Unity of people will be affected for the time being.'
The decision is expected to provide a push for their development in healthcare, cultural identity, education, financial matters, skill development and women empowerment among others, the Chief Minister's Office said in a statement.
The batch of petitioners, while challenging the UPA government's decision to extend reservation to Jats
