BHUBANESWAR : The Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) on Monday demanded that an official motion be moved by the state government to ensure reservation for STs, SCs and OBCs in the higher educational institutions, including technical and medical courses, and government jobs proportionate to their population, and passed in the Assembly.
A delegation of Congress leaders including OPCC president Bhakta Charan Das, former Union minister Srikant Jena and leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) Ramachandra Kadam submitted a memorandum to Speaker Surama Padhy in this regard in the Assembly.
The memorandum said that STs, SCs and OBCs comprise nearly 94 per cent of the population of the state (54 per cent OBCs and around 40 per cent SCs and STs), but they have been deprived of their constitutional rights. A motion in this regard should be passed unanimously in the ongoing session of the House and sent to the Centre for its approval, it added.
The memorandum further said that after the motion is passed in the Assembly, the state government should also request the Centre for inclusion of the decision to ensure reservation proportionate to population of the SCs, STs and OBCs in the ninth schedule of the Constitution.