New Delhi, Aug 1 (PTI) 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.

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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.

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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.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)