Indian state grants new job quotas after caste violence

A state in western India said yesterday it will reserve 10 percent of government jobs and university spots for people whose income falls below a certain threshold after deadly caste protests last yea. India sets aside a proportion of official positions and post-secondary places for its lower castes to try to counter historic discrimination, but that has caused deep resentment among other communities, who say it freezes them out, reports AFP. At least 10 people were killed when thousands of Patidars, a relatively well-off caste of farmers and traders, took to the streets in the western state of Gujarat to demand they be included in those quotas. They argue that they are struggling to compete with lower castes who are given preferential access to government jobs. Chief minister of Gujarat state Anandiben Patel said Friday a new quota system would be set up to cover those with a household income lower than 600,000 rupees ($9,000) a year, regardless of their caste. However the Patidars, who waged fresh protests in Gujarat earlier this month, say they should be included in the Other Backward Castes (OBC) category, whose members have their own, more generous quotas.

Indian state grants new job quotas after caste violence

A state in western India said yesterday it will reserve 10 percent of government jobs and university spots for people whose income falls below a certain threshold after deadly caste protests last yea. India sets aside a proportion of official positions and post-secondary places for its lower castes to try to counter historic discrimination, but that has caused deep resentment among other communities, who say it freezes them out, reports AFP. At least 10 people were killed when thousands of Patidars, a relatively well-off caste of farmers and traders, took to the streets in the western state of Gujarat to demand they be included in those quotas. They argue that they are struggling to compete with lower castes who are given preferential access to government jobs. Chief minister of Gujarat state Anandiben Patel said Friday a new quota system would be set up to cover those with a household income lower than 600,000 rupees ($9,000) a year, regardless of their caste. However the Patidars, who waged fresh protests in Gujarat earlier this month, say they should be included in the Other Backward Castes (OBC) category, whose members have their own, more generous quotas.