The bill to include certain communities in the list of Scheduled Castes (SC) in Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Kerala and West Bengal was passed by the Lok Sabha.

• The state governments of Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Kerala, Odisha and West Bengal have proposed certain modifications in the list of Scheduled Castes, “by way of inclusion of certain communities modification and removal of area restriction in respect of certain communities and exclusion of certain communities in case of Odisha”.
• The minister said that in accordance with the provisions of article 341 of the Constitution, six Presidential Orders have been issued specifying SCs in respect of various States and union territories and these orders have been amended from time to time.
• Some members said if more castes are being added to the list of SC, then the reservation quota should also be increased from the present level.
• The Union Cabinet last year approved a proposal to change the Central List of Other Backward Classes of the states of Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Kerala, consequent upon inclusion of certain castes or parts thereof in the list of Scheduled Castes.
• The castes and communities that were found eligible for their inclusion in SC category from Chhattisgarh are Sais, who are also known as Sahis, Sarathi, Soot-Sarathi and Thanwar.
• Two castes from Haryana have also been included in the SC list. These are Aheria, also called Aheri, Hari, Heri, Thori and Turi, and Rai Sikh.
• In Kerala, Peruvannan caste has been included the SC list while Malayan from certain areas will also be entitled to the same benefits.
• Castes, which have been excluded from the OBC list consequent upon their inclusion in SC list include Bariki and Kummari from Odisha, while the area restriction of the inclusion of Chain caste in West Bengal has been removed.
• Some of the major schemes for these groups include Post Matric Scholarship, National Overseas Scholarship, Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship, Top Class Education, Concessional Loans from National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation, Hostels for SC boys and girls. In addition, they will also be entitled to the benefits of reservation in services and admission to educational institutions.
• The Constitution provides certain privileges, concessions to the members of Scheduled Castes which are notified under the provisions of Article 341.