Patna, Aug 29: The reservation debate within Bihar’s ruling NDA intensified on Saturday as Union Minister and former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi backed a review of the creamy layer and sub-categorisation within SC-ST reservations, asserting that benefits must reach the most deprived sections.
Manjhi’s remarks come shortly after Bihar minister Santosh Kumar Suman advocated expanding the scope of reservation to ensure greater opportunities for disadvantaged Dalit communities and hit out at Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan over his demand for resignations.
Making his position clear, Manjhi said the basic objective of reservation was to benefit those at the lowest rung of society and argued that the existing system needed to be examined to ensure equitable distribution of benefits.
“Review of the creamy layer in reservation is necessary,” Manjhi said.
He said several Dalit communities continued to remain deprived of adequate representation in education, government employment and welfare schemes even 78 years after Independence.
“The benefits of reservation should reach the lowest rung,” the Union minister said.
Manjhi also stressed that the demand for reviewing the creamy layer or introducing sub-categorisation should not be interpreted as a call to abolish reservation.
“No one is talking about ending reservation,” he said.
He argued that communities that have benefited from reservation and moved ahead should also ensure that those who have remained at the back of the queue for decades receive adequate opportunities.
“Those who have continuously moved ahead within the same class should also take care of those brothers who have been standing at the back of the queue for decades,” Manjhi said.
Responding to criticism and demands that leaders supporting a reservation review should resign, Manjhi defended his position as an issue of social justice.
“Raising voice for social justice and the rights of the poorest Dalits is not a crime,” he said.
Manjhi further argued that if relatively prosperous sections oppose the creamy-layer concept, they could end up denying benefits to the most backward and deprived Dalit communities.
He also issued a sharp message to his critics, saying those unwilling to address the concerns of poor and deprived people should consider stepping down.
“If he does not care about our poor people, if he does not want to see poor people, he should resign,” Manjhi said.
The comments are likely to add to the political friction within the NDA in Bihar over the sensitive issue of reservation. While Suman and Manjhi have backed changes aimed at ensuring greater access for deprived communities, Chirag Paswan has opposed the call for a review and demanded resignations from those advocating such changes.
The disagreement among NDA allies comes at a politically significant time, with the reservation issue carrying considerable implications for Bihar’s Dalit and backward-class electorate.
