Click to play videoNew Delhi: Two months before Uttar Pradesh goes to polls, the Government is trying out yet another caste experiment after sops for OBCs, SCs and STs.
The Centre is now turning its focus onto the poor among the Brahmins and Thakurs.
It's being tipped to be the balancing act of the UPA Government specially after pushing the OBC and the Dalit agenda to the hilt.
A commission to recommend affirmative action for the poor among the upper caste is being revitalised and Major General S R Sinho, who has been heading the Commission for Economically Poorer Sections, is being given a fresh lease of life by an apologetic government - an extension for one year.
Sinho said, “Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister are very keen that this commission must do their job. "
While the Government tried to wriggle out of the quota row, the commission was quietly created last year in July with a tenure of six months which means it should have given its report by Wednesday.
But only as late as last month was it provided accommodation to carry out its work. Now a proposal is going to the Union Cabinet to give the commission a fresh lease of life.
Affirmative action for the poor among the upper castes was first demanded during the Rajasthan Assembly elections of 2003. The Jats in Rajasthan had just been included in the OBC list. The spade work for the commission was done by the NDA but then there was a change of Government at the Centre.
This commission has been asked to look in the legal aspects of affirmative action for the poor among the upper caste.
It will also recommend whether benefits of reservations be extended to these sections.
The commission will also consult state governments on the issue and will give its final report in the extended timeframe.
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