OBC politics in for churn after SC nod for Bihar caste survey

Express News Service

NEW DELHI:  With the Supreme Court giving a go-ahead to the publication of Bihar caste survey knowledge on Friday, Mandal politics is prone to witness a churning within the run-up to the 2024 common elections. With Bihar and different Opposition-ruled states taking part in on the entrance foot on caste surveys, the Modi authorities’s ambiguous stand on nationwide caste census could dent the social gathering’s fortunes on Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

Bihar’s caste census could have implications nationally and the Central authorities must make clear its stand, says Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Jha. A caste depend is the necessity of the hour to gather scientific knowledge of latest nature, and resolve the quantum of reservation accordingly, he added.  The final caste census was achieved in 1931, which estimated the nation’s OBC inhabitants at 52 per cent.

“We did it in Bihar and this is becoming part of the national application. The BJP has to break its silence on the issue. The Centre can delay the caste census out of fear of numbers, but it has to be done ultimately as the Constitution guarantees reservation,” he mentioned. 

“The last caste-based census in 1931 included present-day Bangladesh and Pakistan also. When the Mandal Commission recommendation was implemented, that quantum of reservation was settled for 27 per cent because there was a sealing of 50 per cent,” mentioned Jha, including that states like Odisha and Chhattisgarh have additionally kicked off caste surveys.

The powerful posturing by Opposition events is prone to put the Modi authorities in a spot because it has been dithering on the contentious concern of the caste-based census for figuring out and enumerating the SEBC/OBCs, for a very long time. While OBC votes have contributed some excellent victories to the BJP within the final decade, the BJP’s retreat from the sooner place on caste census hasn’t gone down nicely with its allies in states like Uttar Pradesh and  Maharashtra. There is a sense among the many group that its  numerical power should have grown manifold and is left behind in affirmative motion.

More considerably, the Bihar authorities’s caste census to enumerate completely different castes may also result in a realignment of castes past the state. 

Though the Rohini Commission, which seemed into the sub-categorization of OBCs, has submitted its report after 14 extensions, Jha factors out that if the Rohini Commission proposals should be applied, a caste census must be achieved first. 

“It defies logic. We still don’t have scientific data on the population of different castes. Even if the Rohini commission report is to be implemented, data is needed,” mentioned Jha. According to a 2018 report, 37 p.c of the two,600 communities within the OBC central record have zero illustration in jobs and institutes. It additionally reveals that solely 2.68 p.c of reservation has been availed by 994 castes.

Speaking to this newspaper, DMK MP P Wilson mentioned that state governments must be given the facility to conduct a caste census within the state. Wilson had moved a non-public member’s invoice in Parliament demanding the switch of the topic of caste census from the concurrent record to the state record. “We shouldn’t be denying opportunities to the backward class.  Tamil Nadu was the first state to set up a Backward Commission. The 10 percent reservation to EWS was given without any survey. When it comes to other castes, they need empirical data,” he mentioned.

While social justice has been the principle plank of Congress in not too long ago held Karnataka elections, former Karnataka Chief Minister Veerappa Moily instructed this paper that the state authorities will quickly publish the caste survey, which was carried out by CM Siddaramaiah in 2014. “We will soon publish the 2014 data. It is in the process of publishing.  The survey has been done systematically. It is the cabinet to decide whether to update the data or not,” he mentioned. 

NEW DELHI:  With the Supreme Court giving a go-ahead to the publication of Bihar caste survey knowledge on Friday, Mandal politics is prone to witness a churning within the run-up to the 2024 common elections. With Bihar and different Opposition-ruled states taking part in on the entrance foot on caste surveys, the Modi authorities’s ambiguous stand on nationwide caste census could dent the social gathering’s fortunes on Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

Bihar’s caste census could have implications nationally and the Central authorities must make clear its stand, says Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Jha. A caste depend is the necessity of the hour to gather scientific knowledge of latest nature, and resolve the quantum of reservation accordingly, he added.  The final caste census was achieved in 1931, which estimated the nation’s OBC inhabitants at 52 per cent.

“We did it in Bihar and this is becoming part of the national application. The BJP has to break its silence on the issue. The Centre can delay the caste census out of fear of numbers, but it has to be done ultimately as the Constitution guarantees reservation,” he mentioned. googletag.cmd.push(perform() googletag.show(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); );

“The last caste-based census in 1931 included present-day Bangladesh and Pakistan also. When the Mandal Commission recommendation was implemented, that quantum of reservation was settled for 27 per cent because there was a sealing of 50 per cent,” mentioned Jha, including that states like Odisha and Chhattisgarh have additionally kicked off caste surveys.

The powerful posturing by Opposition events is prone to put the Modi authorities in a spot because it has been dithering on the contentious concern of the caste-based census for figuring out and enumerating the SEBC/OBCs, for a very long time. While OBC votes have contributed some excellent victories to the BJP within the final decade, the BJP’s retreat from the sooner place on caste census hasn’t gone down nicely with its allies in states like Uttar Pradesh and  Maharashtra. There is a sense among the many group that its  numerical power should have grown manifold and is left behind in affirmative motion.

More considerably, the Bihar authorities’s caste census to enumerate completely different castes may also result in a realignment of castes past the state. 

Though the Rohini Commission, which seemed into the sub-categorization of OBCs, has submitted its report after 14 extensions, Jha factors out that if the Rohini Commission proposals should be applied, a caste census must be achieved first. 

“It defies logic. We still don’t have scientific data on the population of different castes. Even if the Rohini commission report is to be implemented, data is needed,” mentioned Jha. According to a 2018 report, 37 p.c of the two,600 communities within the OBC central record have zero illustration in jobs and institutes. It additionally reveals that solely 2.68 p.c of reservation has been availed by 994 castes.

Speaking to this newspaper, DMK MP P Wilson mentioned that state governments must be given the facility to conduct a caste census within the state. Wilson had moved a non-public member’s invoice in Parliament demanding the switch of the topic of caste census from the concurrent record to the state record. “We shouldn’t be denying opportunities to the backward class.  Tamil Nadu was the first state to set up a Backward Commission. The 10 percent reservation to EWS was given without any survey. When it comes to other castes, they need empirical data,” he mentioned.

While social justice has been the principle plank of Congress in not too long ago held Karnataka elections, former Karnataka Chief Minister Veerappa Moily instructed this paper that the state authorities will quickly publish the caste survey, which was carried out by CM Siddaramaiah in 2014. “We will soon publish the 2014 data. It is in the process of publishing.  The survey has been done systematically. It is the cabinet to decide whether to update the data or not,” he mentioned.