Displaying caste identities on the windshields and license plates of four- and two-wheelers in Uttar Pradesh will now invite punitive action.
In recent years, it has become fashionable to write caste names such as Yadav, Jat, Gurjar, Brahmin, Pandit, Kshatriya, Lodhi, and Maurya on windshields or vehicle license plates in the state.
This is done essentially to assert caste identity according to party power.
An order issued by Additional Transportation Commissioner Mukesh Chandra to all Regional Transportation Offices (RTOs) states that all of these vehicles must be impounded.
The transport department has launched the unit following the instructions of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
Sources said the PMO became aware of the matter after a letter from a teacher in Maharashtra, Harshal Prabhu.
Prabhu wrote the letter about IGRS, an integrated system designed to redress grievances. Prabhu said that the display of such stickers is a threat to the social fabric of society.
The PMO took note of the letter and sent it to the government of Uttar Pradesh, after which the initiative was launched.
“According to our law enforcement teams, every 20 vehicles are found with such a decal. Our headquarters have asked us to take action against those vehicle owners,” said DK Tripathi, Kanpur Deputy Commissioner for Transport.
The practice of people displaying their particular caste identities on vehicles initially started during the Samajwadi Party regime when writing “Yadav” on vehicles was considered a status symbol.
Vehicles with ‘Jatav’ stickers became more visible during the rule of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), even as these vehicles can be seen even today in some districts, especially in western Uttar Pradesh.
With the Yogi government in power, it is now common for people to flaunt Kshatriya, Thakur or Rajput (different variants of the same caste) as a label on vehicles.
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