Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday vowed to remove the 50 per cent upper cap on reservation, grant Sarna code for tribals and revive the ailing PSU Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC) if the Opposition’s INDIA bloc comes to power after the Lok Sabha polls.

Addressing a rally as part of his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra at Shahid Maidan in Ranchi, (HEC township), on Monday evening, the Congress Lok Sabha MP, said that social justice has been denied to the Dalits, tribals and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) as they have negligible representations in the corporate, public sector and government establishments.

“Dalits, tribals, OBCs have been contract labourers and have no say in big companies, hospitals, schools, colleges, government establishments and courts as they have negligible representations. This is the biggest question facing India. Our first step will be to conduct a caste-based census in the country,” he said.

“Under the existing provisions, more than 50 per cent reservation cannot be given. I would like to assure that if we (INDIA alliance) come to power we will remove the 50 per cent cap on reservation,” Rahul stressed.

Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said: “Prime Minister Narendra Modi says that he is an OBC, but when the demand for caste census was made, he said that there are only two castes here — rich and poor.”

“When the time comes to give rights to OBCs, Dalits, tribals, Modi ji says there is no caste and when the time comes to take votes, he says he is an OBC,” he claimed.

Sensing the much-awaited demands of the tribals for a separate Sarna dharma code, Rahul assured the code would be granted if they came to power.

“Our government in Jharkhand tried to give Sarna dharma code. But it has not been accepted by the Centre. If we come to power tribals will have a separate Sarna dharma code,” said Gandhi amidst thunderous applause from the masses.

Significantly, majority of tribals in Jharkhand are Sarna followers and nature worshipers have been fighting for a separate religious identity in India for decades and in recent years have staged agitation in different parts of the country.

Tribals argue that the implementation of a separate Sarna religious code in census surveys would allow the tribals to be identified as followers of the Sarna faith. Tribal organisations have claimed that with the Centre dropping the “Others” option from the religion column for the next census, Sarna adherents would be forced to either skip the column or declare themselves members of one of the six specified religions: Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, Jain and Sikh.

The Jharkhand Assembly during Hemant Soren’s tenure had unanimously passed a resolution in November 2020 advocating the recognition of Sarna as a distinct religion in the census.

Congratulating chief minister Champai Soren for winning the trust vote in the Assembly, Rahul also alleged that the BJP tried to oust the government as it could not accept a tribal chief minister (Hemant Soren).

“The Congress and the JMM stood together against them and the government
was saved. They do this in all Opposition-ruled states through investigative agencies and money power. They (BJP) are attacking democracy, the Constitution and want to suppress the voice of the people,” he alleged.

Harping on the sentiments of the HEC employees, Rahul questioned the Centre indifference towards a PSU like HEC.

“Why HEC is being strangled? Why is injustice being done to HEC? The central government wants that HEC should stop working and it should be sold to Adani. This should also be privatized. Modi government wants to make HEC people unemployed. But the Congress will not let it happen,” said Rahul.

“Narendra Modi and his government are gradually destroying public enterprises. Wherever I go, I see PSU people standing with posters in their hands. Be it BHEL, HAL or HEC, all are gradually being handed over to Adani,” he alleged.

HEC employees union officials claim that nearly 2,800 employees are on the brink of starvation due to non-payment of salaries for over 22 months.

Incidentally, leaders of the INDIA bloc in Jharkhand had staged an agitation last year at the Raj Bhavan in Ranchi and submitted a letter addressed to the Prime Minister through the governor requesting modernisation and revival of HEC and clearing pending salaries of its employees and officials. Employees along with INDIA bloc leaders have also staged agitation at Jantar Mantar in Delhi last year in support of their demand.

Employees claim that HEC has contributed to the construction of the launching pad of Chandrayaan-3 and to the Aditya L1 solar project of Isro. HEC is also credited for setting up steel-giant SAIL’s units in Bhilai, Rourkela, Bokaro and Salem.

The company’s operations are severely hampered by a lack of working capital, despite holding work orders worth Rs 1,355 crore.

The Yatra in Jharkhand has so far covered Pakur, Godda, Deoghar, Dhanbad, Bokaro, Ramgarh district and reached capital Ranchi.

Earlier in the day while crossing Chuttupalu valley in Ramgarh, Rahul interacted with a “poor tribal” carrying coal on a bicycle and stopped his convoy to interact with him and pulled the coal-laden bicycle.

“The income of the youth who walks 30-40 km daily carrying 200kg of coal on a bicycle is negligible. Without interacting with them and carrying their weight their problem cannot be understood. If the life of such youths slows down, then the wheel of building India will also stop,” shared Rahul on X.

Later in the evening, Rahul also met former chief minister Hemant Soren’s wife Kalpana Soren at her residence in Ranchi.