BHUBANESWAR: Union Education minister Dharmendra Pradhan has written to National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) chairman Hansraj Ahir urging him to include 14 specific castes or communities currently in the Odisha State Backward Classes (SEBC) list in the central Other Backward Classes (OBC) list.
In a letter to Ahir, Pradhan, a strong votary of OBC rights, requested him to include Khandayat, Paik, Chasa Paik, Alia, Paikali, Kalingi Shudra Khandayat, Mahanayak Shudra, Odi-Khandayat, Bayalisha, Oda, Oda Paik, Oda Paiko, Haladia Teli, and Rajashribalasi/Balasi castes in the central OBC list.”
“Many communities in the state SEBC list are not in the central OBC list. As a result, people of these communities are being deprived of availing the benefits of reservation in central government jobs, central educational and technical/professional institutions and various welfare schemes. Inclusion of these castes in the central OBC list will lead to their socio-economic development and be a crucial step in giving them their rights,” said Pradhan.
In the last week of October, the NCBC chairman had held a public hearing in Bhubaneswar where representatives of more than 50 backward class communities submitted memorandum demanding direction to the state government for a fresh census of OBCs and providing 27 per cent reservation to them in both education and employment.
The state government has been providing 11.25 per cent reservation to SEBCs in government jobs and higher education leaving medical, technical and other professional courses out of the reservation purview. As OBCs in the state constitute more than 50 per cent of the population, there has been a strong demand to increase the quota from 11.25 per cent to 27 per cent as implemented by the central government. In the absence of quantifiable data, the OBCs are unable to fight their cases in legal forums, activists said.
