The present Scheduled Caste reservation regime comprising 1,206 castes is facing a challenge within. Some intellectuals of the Valmiki caste, a caste of scavengers and safai karmacharis spread across north India, are demanding a separate quota within the SC quota for Valmikis and other Ati Dalit (extremely Dalit) castes. In addition to this, they are also demanding that “creamy layer” among SCs—families who have progressed as a result of quotas—be excluded from reservation. Their targets are the Jatavs and the BSP, a party “dominated” by them.

According to the 2001 Census, there are 23 lakh people belonging to the SC category in Delhi, of whom Jatavs number 8.9 lakh and Valmikis 5 lakh (22 per cent). Valmikis constitute 11.2 per cent and 19.2 per cent of the SC populations of Punjab and Haryana, respectively. In Uttar Pradesh, they are placed fifth in the SC list, the Jatavs being the dominant lot accounting for 56 per cent of the SC population. The Valmiki intellectuals contest this enumeration, but not on well-established empirical grounds.

A conference of about 50-60 Valmiki intellectuals was held at Gandhi Peace Foundation in New Delhi on January 12. Among those who attended were O P Shukla, Judicial Member, Income-Tax Appellate Tribunal; Vijay Prakash, advocate, Delhi High Court; Jyoti Atwal, Assistant Professor of History at JNU; and Vijay Kayat, Reader, MD University, Rohtak. This conference followed a similar ones held by Uttaranchal Valmiki Krantikari Morcha headed by Bhagwat Prasad Makwana on December 23, 2007 at Dehradun and at Agra on January 5 this year.

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