In which category has ‘Banjara Community’ been included in Madhya Pradesh?

Concept: In India, Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) for each state are specified through that state's Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order and Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order — issued by the President under Articles 341 and 342 respectively, and amendable only by an Act of Parliament — so a state's SC/ST list is fixed at the central level but is specific to that state. Other Backward Classes (OBC), by contrast, are recognised on two separate lists: a Central List of OBCs (maintained by the National Commission for Backward Classes, used for central government services and institutions) and each state's own State List of OBCs (maintained by that state's Backward Classes Commission, used for state government services and state-level exams). Because these lists are compiled independently, the same community name can appear on a different list — or none — in different states.

Application: For this Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission exam, the relevant classification is Madhya Pradesh's State List of OBCs, which includes the 'Banjara' community; the community is also separately recognised in the National Commission for Backward Classes' Central List of OBCs for Madhya Pradesh. This is confirmed directly by the MPPSC's own official final answer key for this State Forest Service Main Exam 2023 question, which keys the answer to Other Backward Classes.

Cross-check against Madhya Pradesh's other three lists:

• Madhya Pradesh's Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order — the Presidential Order specifying the state's SC list — does not include the Banjara community.

• Madhya Pradesh's Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order likewise does not include it — unlike some other states (e.g., Andhra Pradesh/Telangana), where a Banjara-linked group such as Lambada/Sugali is separately notified as Scheduled Tribe under that state's own ST Order.

• Since the community is notified under Madhya Pradesh's OBC lists, it cannot simultaneously be 'Unreserved'/General for Madhya Pradesh.

This state-specific corroboration — the official MPPSC exam key plus Madhya Pradesh's OBC notification — confirms Other Backward Classes as the correct category for Madhya Pradesh.