Congress leader Chinta Mohan opposed SC categorisation

Former Union Minister and Congress senior leader Chinta Mohan on Friday (February 7) said social justice cannot be achieved through categorisation of the Scheduled Castes (SCs).

Addressing a press conference at Machilipatnam, he said nowhere in the Constitution has it been mentioned that SC sub-castes should be divided. “To achieve social justice, there should be categorisation of the Chief Ministers’ posts, … national wealth and the posts of Supreme Court judges,” he said, adding that two castes ruled independent India for 70 of its 75 years of existence.

He said among the 33 judges in the Supreme Court, 20 belonged to the Brahmin community. “This is precisely why I say there should be categorisation of the Supreme Court judge posts.

The Congress leader said that Indira Gandhi had nationalised private banks with the noble intention of distributing the nation’s wealth to all the sections. “There should be categorisation in the distribution of … national wealth, and SCs, STs and OBCs should get 50% of the bank loans.” He said although SCs and STs constituted 25% of the country’s population, banks provided them with less than 1 % of the total loans.

He reiterated that he was strongly opposed to the SC categorisation recommended by the Mishra Commission and demanded the abolition of the commission. He termed the division of Dalits a conspiratorial idea and argued that this very reason had resulted in the bifurcation of the State.