Gurugram: The Nayab Singh Saini-led government in Haryana has announced a hike in the OBC creamy layer income limit from Rs 6 lakh to Rs 8 lakh — the latest in a series of populist announcements by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government after it suffered a setback in the state in the just concluded Lok Sabha elections.
The BJP, which won all 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana in 2019, lost five to the Congress this time. The INDIA bloc, comprising the Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) which contested one seat, won the other five seats and led in 46 of 90 assembly segments.
The outcome set alarm bells ringing for the BJP in Haryana, where assembly elections are due in October this year. The OBC community accounts for an estimated 30 percent of Haryana’s population.
Addressing the OBC Morcha Sarv Samaj Samrasta Sammelan in Gurugram, CM Saini said Sunday that the government will organise a special recruitment drive to fill up Group-A and Group-B vacancies. The event was organised by the Haryana BJP OBC Morcha.
“In the last 10 years, the BJP government has ensured justice for the backward classes in Haryana, from government jobs to economic and social participation. Under the guidance of PM Narendra Modi ji, BJP has done justice to OBCs by providing them with their share in jobs and political leadership,” Saini wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
He added, “Congress has always done injustice to OBCs, right from trying to stop the implementation of the Mandal Commission report till today. I assure the OBCs that their interests are safe with the BJP.”
In another post, he said the increase in the annual income limit of the creamy layer was announced after “consultation with the Haryana Backward Classes Commission”. He also clarified that salary and agricultural income will not be counted in this regard.
The announcements are being viewed as an attempt by BJP to woo OBC voters ahead of assembly polls. Efforts in that direction were already underway, with BJP replacing its state president O.P. Dhankar, a Jat, with Nayab Saini, an OBC, in October last year.
On 12 March this year, BJP appointed Saini as chief minister in place of Manohar Lal Khattar, who had been in the top job since 2014.
Prior to that, the BJP government in the state announced a sub-quota for the BC-A category (the most backward among Backward Classes in the state) in municipal bodies.
And earlier this month, three of the five newly elected BJP MPs from Haryana found a place in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Council of Ministers — two of them, Rao Inderjit Singh and Krishan Pal Gurjar, are OBCs.
Also Read: BJP-Jat ties fraying at both ends. Dwindling electoral support, just 2 junior ministers in Modi 3.0
BJP’s push ahead of assembly polls
Days after the declaration of Lok Sabha elections results, CM Saini announced on 8 June that his government would provide 50,000 new public sector jobs in the coming days.
Addressing a press conference the next day, he announced 100 square yards plots to nearly 20,000 BPL families under the Mukhyamantri Gramin Awas Yojana. Of those, as many as 7,775 were granted possession of plots, while the remaining 12,225 were each to be given Rs 1 lakh to enable them to buy a plot, he said.
The scheme was launched during Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s first term as chief minister (2005-09).
Saini blamed Hooda for failing to implement the scheme, while Bhupinder Singh Hooda told ThePrint that the BJP remembered the scheme only after the party’s poor showing in the state in the general election. “The scheme was started during the Congress government (in the state), and free plots of 100 square yards were distributed to about 4 lakh poor, SC and OBC families. Congress planned to give these plots to more than 7 lakh families, but the BJP stopped the scheme as soon as it came to power (in 2014),” claimed Hooda.
Further, on 10 June, Saini announced prompt redressal of grievances against the Parivar Pehchan Patra (PPP) — the state government’s family ID scheme — and other issues. All District Collectors and Superintendents of Police have been instructed to address grievances without any unncessary delays, the chief minister said.
Launched during Khattar’s time in office, the family ID and property ID schemes were seen as major issues working against the BJP government in the parliamentary polls.
The state government also announced that monetary assistance under the Mukhya Mantri Vivah Shagun Yojna would be deposited into the bank accounts of beneficiaries three days before the wedding. Many had complained of delays in disbursement under this scheme.
Chief Minister Saini also said Sunday that over the past decade, the state government has worked for the OBC community. It is committed, he added, to supporting quality education for children from the OBC community by offering scholarships ranging from Rs 12,000 – Rs 20,000.
Similarly, for skill development, a budget of Rs 13,000 crore has been allocated under the Pradhan Mantri Vishwakarma Scheme to ensure training in 18 trades, he said.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
Also Read: Why Nayab Singh Saini govt is confident of sailing through Oppn’s floor test demand