Elaborating on the decision, Mayawati said the 21 per cent reservation for the SCs and the 2 per cent for STs would be extended in construction contracts worth up to Rs 5 lakh that are being carried out by working divisions of various departments, corporations, enterprises, authorities and parishads in the state.

The chief minister said while earlier her government had been identifying new Ambedkar villages every year and working for their development, now on the government would concentrate on the maintenance and upkeep of the 2,000 identified Ambedkar villages.

"Despite taking up the development of the Ambedkar villages, their maintenance and upkeep had not been up to my expectations," Mayawati said, adding that emphasis would be given on Dalit localities while constructing roads and taking up other development activities. In the first phase for construction of roads in Dalit localities of the Ambedkar villages, Rs 800 crore would be invested, while another Rs 260 crore would be spent on the construction of community centres.