E-Paper
Uttar Pradesh’s OBC population estimated at over 50%
OBCs in Uttar Pradesh estimated to be over 50% of state's population, according to data from the Hukum Singh committee set up in 2001. Yadavs are the largest OBC caste with 19.40% share. There is a demand for a caste census.
Amid the caste census demand, other backward classes (OBCs) in Uttar Pradesh are estimated to be over 50% of the state’s total population, according to estimates drawn from the data relied on by the Hukum Singh committee that was set up by the state government in 2001.
Among the key OBC castes, Yadavs are the biggest with 19.40% share and Kurmis and Patels in second place with 7.4%, according to the same data.
While Nishads, Mallahs and Kevats constitute 4.3%, Bhars and Rajbhars are 2.4%, Lodhs 4.8% and Jats 3.6% of the total OBC population.
Though no authentic data of a caste wise break of the OBC population was available after the 1931 Census, Uttar Pradesh’s then minister for parliamentary affairs Hukum Singh-led committee in 2001 had worked out 7.56 crore as the population of 79 OBCs in the state, based on family registers (maintained in rural areas). If an average of 20.78% of the population living in urban areas is also considered, the OBC population then may have been over 50% of the state’s 2001 census population of 16.61 crore.
The Hukum Singh committee had brought into focus the issues of reservation for the most backward classes (MBCs) within the 27% reservation given to the OBCs following implementation of the Mandal Commission report.
“Yes, based on the Mandal Commission and Hukum Singh committee’s reports, the possibility of more than 50% share of the OBCs in state’s population cannot be denied,” said Prashant Trivedi, associate professor at Giri Institute of Development Studies, Lucknow. The Mandal Commission indicated that the OBC population was 52.2% in the country, he said.
As the politics over the MBCs gained momentum, the Yogi Adityanath government in 2018 decided to set up another social justice committee headed by Justice Raghvendra Kumar in the backdrop of demand for quota for MBCs within the quota for the OBCs.
Justice Raghvendra Kumar committee submitted its nearly 400-page report in October 2018. The committee classified the OBCs into three categories of backward classes, more backward classes and most backward classes.
As no concrete action was taken to provide quota to the MBCs within quota for the OBCs, Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief Om Prakash Rajbhar and others had stepped up pressure on the issue. Rajbhar had parted ways with the Yogi Adityanath ministry in 2019. He contested the 2022 UP assembly elections in alliance with the Samajwadi Party. Rajbhar has joined the BJP again and there are indications that he may be re-inducted into the Yogi Adityanath ministry again ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
For its part, INDIA, the alliance of opposition parties, has supported the demand for a caste census. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, in a post on X (formerly twitter) on Monday, said the BJP government should leave politics and conduct a nationwide caste census. Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee organisation secretary Anil Yadav said the Bihar caste census report would expose the BJP’s attempts to divert focus and dilute the demand for a caste census.
