Uttar Pradesh Government has added 17 Other Backward Castes in the list of Scheduled Castes. It has also directed all District officers to issue Caste Certificate to the families of those belonging to these 17 castes including Kashyap, Mallah, Kumhar, Rajbhar, Prajapati and others.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Uttar Pradesh has included 17 Other Backward Castes (OBC) castes in the Scheduled Castes (SC) list. The castes that have been added into the SC list are — Nishad, Bind, Mallah, Kewat, Kashyap, Bhar, Dhivar, Batham, Machua, Prajapati, Rajbhar, Kahar, Pottar, Dhimar, Manjhi, Tuhaha and Gaur.

These certificates will be issued based on the 2017 Allahabad high court order and directions. Previously, both the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party governments had attempted to include the above-mentioned castes in the SC category but failed to do so.