Himachal Pradesh govt announced setting up a Commission for upper castes, on the lines of Madhya Pradesh. The Commission, to be named as ‘Samanya Varg Aayog’, will be formalized through a legislative enactment in three months’ time when the state assembly meets next in February-March 2021 for the budget session of the House. A Scheduled Caste Commission is already in operation in Himachal Pradesh and is chaired by former Shimla MP Virendra Kashyap.
As per the 2011 population census, Himachal Pradesh has a population of 68,56,509 of which 19.29 lakh, which is 25.22 %, are SCs, while the other 4 lakhs are STs, which is 5.71 % and other 9.03 lakh are OBCs, which is 13.52%.
