The recent Supr♏eme Court decision to permit the sub-categorisation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes while offering reservation benefits has intensified the debate in India's social and political spheres over the deeply contested issue of caste.
Outlook’s upcoming issue, ‘Caste vs Caste’, exploreﷺs the decades-🍷long debate over sub-categorisation and the creamy layer withing Scheduled Castes, especially in the context of a political push for a caste census.
In this issue, we explore how the sub-categorisation verdict could be a factor in the upcoming Assembly elections. In Maharasꦉhtra, we look into how the long struggle of Marathas for inclusion in the OBC category is playing out now. We also speak to Union Minister Chirag Paswan on his position within the NDA and the dynamics of caste in Bihar.
In conflict-stricken Manipurౠ, we find that the Supreme Court's ruling on sub-categorisation has heightened concerns about further divisions, especially among the Kuki-Zo tribes who at present are united in their call for 'separate🥀 administration’.
The Hindu nationalist demand for the removal of tribals who have converted to Christianity or Islam from thꦇe reservation benefits list is another aspect that we look at in the context of the sub-categorisation verdict.
We also see how Tamil Nadu, with its 69 per cent reservation quota that exceeds th🥀e constitutionally-mandated 50 per cent, offers valuable lessons in the sub-categorisation debate.
