Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed a bill that seeks to add two synonyms for the Mahar community in Chhattisgarh to the state's Scheduled Castes list.
The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2023, was passed by Lok Sabha after a reply to a brief discussion by Social Justice Minister Virendra Kumar.
The bill seeks to add "Mahara" and "Mahra" as synonyms of the Mahar community, thereby expanding government schemes and benefits meant for SCs in the state to around two lakh more people.
In the bill, the government said the inclusion of these two synonyms was first proposed by the state government, as required by the rules.
Subsequently, the office of the Registrar General of India and the National Commission for Scheduled Castes had given their approval for the same, allowing for this bill to be brought.
Assembly elections in the state are due later this year.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Featured Video Of The Day
Late Flight, Emergency Landing, Stuck For 3 Days: Indian Fliers' Nightmare
Maharashtra Assembly Polls: Mumbai Voter Count Crosses 1-Crore Mark Rahul Gandhi Chopper Take-Off Delayed, Congress Complains To Election Body Congress Urges All Party Meet For Clarity On Caste Enumeration In Next Census Emergency Landing, Fliers Stuck For 3 Days In Phuket; Air India Responds Explained: Why Delhi's AQI Was 494 Today But International Monitor Said 1,600 Putin Responds To Biden's Missile Approval By Changing Nuclear Doctrine "Irregularities" In Andrew Tate's Human Trafficking Charges: Romanian Court Women Continue To perform 5 Times More Care Work Than Men: UN official Baltic Sea Cable Cuts Raise Nordic, German Suspicions of Russian Sabotage Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.