Valmikis say ‘creamy’ SCs cornering all benefits

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.

Shukla said, “In the past 60 years, a few developed castes among SCs have walked away with all the benefits of reservations. The Jatavs in north India, the Mahars in Maharashtra, Malas in Andhra, Pasis and Dusadhs in Bihar have reaped all the benefits of the SC quota. Castes like the Valmikis, Dhanaks, Khatiks and Baazigars have had none of these benefits. Valmiki Class-I officers in Delhi can be counted on fingers, and only three Valmikis in the whole country have till now reached the rank of Additional Secretary. The benefits of quota need to be equitably distributed among different castes by bifurcating the SC category.”

He concluded his address by saying that those families who had benefited from the SC quota should be excluded from reservation. “Even the Supreme Court had recently observed that there should be creamy layer exclusion among SCs,” he said.

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