Odisha to begin survey of Backward Classes from May 1; Opposition terms it ‘vote bank politics'

The Odisha government is all set to begin a survey of the Backward Classes from May 1 and complete the exercise by May 27. There are at least 208 communities in the OBC category in Odisha, reports said.

The Odisha government plans to launch the caste survey for their enumeration and collect data on the socio-economic conditions of people from all the backward classes.

The State government has released a notification in this regard that reads, “In exercise of the powers conferred by the Sub-section 1(a) of Section 9 of the OSCBC Act, 1993 read with OSCBC (Amendment) Act, 2020, the Government of Odisha have been pleased to approve the proposal of the Odisha State Commission for Backward Classes to conduct a survey of the social and educational conditions of the people belonging to the Backward Classes in Odisha.”

The entire process of the survey in all 314 blocks and areas under 114 civic bodies in the State is scheduled to be completed by May 27, 2023.

However, the Opposition smelled something fishy in the move of the government ahead of the 2024 General and Assembly Elections. The opposition parties described it as an attempt by the ruling BJD to attract voters from the backward classes. The Opposition termed the government’s move as ‘vote bank politics’ and said it has a hidden agenda behind it. 

On the other hand, the state government maintained that the survey was being conducted to make effective policies and ensure the socio-economic development of the backward classes and improve the social and educational conditions of the people belonging to the backward classes in the State.

“Why the government is not doing a door-to-door survey? Where the problem lies? Why is the government asking people to apply online and offline? This is not some scheme launched by the Odisha government that people will apply online. Due to various reasons, thousands will be excluded from the list. So, we demand the government to conduct a door-to-door survey,” said Surath Biswal, President of BJP OBC Morcha.

He further added, “If the government doesn’t conduct door-to-door survey then there will be several defaults like in the case of KALIA, Awas and Ration card Scheme.”

The BJP Morcha also demanded the Odisha government to open up on the reservation percentage in both education and job for Backward Classes.

 

(Reported by Harihar Chand, OTV)