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INDIA-DISCRIMINATION-SOCIAL
Modi plans jobs quota for India’s ‘upper caste poor’
NEW DELHI, Jan 7, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s
government announced plans Monday to set aside a quota of government jobs for
poorer members of India’s upper caste, months before what looks set to be a
challenging re-election bid.
India already “reserves” jobs for impoverished and disadvantaged lower
castes for civil service jobs and college places, but this has caused
resentment among other communities, who say it is unfair and freezes them
out.
Modi’s plans would help households with an annual income of less than
$11,000, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. The change would
require a change to the constitution, which caps the number of reserved jobs
and college places at 50 percent.
The plans were approved by Modi’s cabinet on Monday. They require approval
from both houses of parliament.
Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept to power in
2014, but late last year it suffered painful defeats in three key state
elections to the opposition Congress party led by Rahul Gandhi, scion of the
Nehru-Gandhi dynasty.
Abhishek Singhvi, a Congress spokesman, said on Twitter that the latest
move was an “election gimmick” and “proof positive” of Modi’s “fear” of
losing power in the vote, which is due to take place by May.
Caste-based quotas are meant to provide equal opportunities for India’s
poorest and most marginalised groups. Nearly one in four Indians still lives
on less than $1.25 a day.
Demands for quotas for highly sought-after government jobs and university
places have escalated in recent years as unemployment has risen and
conditions in rural areas have worsened.
In 2016 at least 10 people were killed when thousands of Patidars, a
relatively well-off caste of farmers and traders, took to the streets in the
western state of Gujarat to demand they be included in those quotas.
Similar protests by upper caste groups have been witnessed in other states
including Maharashtra and Haryana.
BSS/AFP/ARS/1823 hrs