Jitan Ram Manjhi Demands Implementation Of Supreme Court Verdict On SC, ST Sub-Categorisation Amid Bharat Bandh Call

Amid the Bharat Bandh call against the Supreme Court's verdict allowing sub-categorisation within Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST), former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi has come out in support of it.

Today (21 August), he participated in an event at Ravindra Bhavan in Patna where the demand to implement the Supreme Court's decision for sub-categorisation in SC and ST communities was raised.

The event, organised by Vanchit SC-ST Morcha of Bihar, also witnessed the participation of Dr Santosh Kumar Suman, a leader of Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM) and a minister in the Bihar government.

Notably, Manjhi has always acknowledged that a handful of SC and ST communities corner the maximum reservation benefits meant for them, while many other caste groups still remain backward.

He had supported the Supreme Court verdict and said, "Four castes have been taking all reservation benefits for 76 years, while castes like Bhuiya, Dom, Mehtar, and Musahar are still backward."

Manjhi is a Musahar by caste, the most backward caste in Bihar among the Dalits. In the present day, they mostly work as landless agricultural labourers and have not been able to take reservation benefits much.

While he did not name the beneficiary castes, Paswans in Bihar and Jatavs in Uttar Pradesh are known to take maximum reservation benefits and hence Chirag Paswan and Mayawati had opposed the verdict.

Today's bandh is organised by Dalit and Adivasi organisations as they demand stronger representation and protection for marginalised communities. Opposition parties are supporting the bandh.