Inclusion of Bhar, Rajbhar community in ST list: Allahabad HC asks UP govt to decide soon

Till now, the Bhar/Rajbhar community was treated as part of the Other Backward Class (OBC) in the state.

Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court has directed the Uttar Pradesh government to take a decision within two months on the representation that seeks the inclusion of the state`s Bhar/Rajbhar community in the Scheduled Tribes (STs) list.

Till now, this community was treated as part of the Other Backward Class (OBC) in the state.

Disposing of a writ petition filed by `Jago Rajbhar Jago Samiti` and another, a division bench comprising Justices Siddhartha Varma and Dinesh Pathak observed that since the Central government has forwarded the petitioner`s representation to the Uttar Pradesh government, therefore, no useful purpose would be served to keep the matter pending before this court.

Earlier, Agnihotri Kumar Tripathi, the counsel for the petitioner, had contended that keeping in view the past records, the Bhar/Rajbhar community should be treated as ST, but the state government has given them the OBC status.

The members of this community have a strong presence in the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh.