Chandigarh, December 22: A delegation from the General Category Welfare Federation (Registered) Punjab met with Rajya Sabha Member Satnam Singh Sandhu and submitted a memorandum demanding the formation of a commission at the central level to address the problems of people belonging to the general category.
State leaders of the federation, Jarnail Singh Brar and Jasvir Singh Garang, drew Satnam Singh Sandhu's attention to the fact that people from the general category do not have any platform at the government level where they can voice their concerns. The leaders also stated that the General Category Commission was established by the BJP government in Gujarat in 2017 and is functioning effectively.
Similarly, in 2021, the Congress government in Punjab also formed a commission on the lines of the Gujarat General Category Commission. The appointed chairman, Navjot Dahiya, resigned from his post to contest the MLA elections. However, even after four years, the current Punjab government has neither appointed a chairman for the General Category Commission nor appointed any office staff.
The leaders also stated that only wealthy individuals from the Scheduled Castes are repeatedly benefiting from the reservation system. Therefore, there is a need to make economic status the basis for reservation so that poor and genuinely underprivileged people from the Scheduled Castes can benefit from it.
Therefore, it is essential to introduce a creamy layer limit in the SC category, similar to the BC category, to exclude wealthy individuals from the Scheduled Castes. Amendments to the Atrocities Act are also necessary because the act is being misused. No case should be registered without proper investigation. It has been observed that most cases filed under this act are found to be false.
The leaders handed over a written memorandum to Satnam Singh Sandhu, strongly demanding the formation of a commission for the general category at the central level, making economic status the basis for reservation, and amending the Atrocities Act so that people from the general category can also get justice. Satnam Singh Sandhu listened attentively to the delegation and assured them that their demand would be considered by the Central Ministry. Dilbag Singh Gill, Harminder Singh Sohi, Rajwinder Singh, Manohar Lal Sharma, and Surinder Pal Singh Khatra were also present on the occasion.