OBC outfits, opposition push for caste-based survey in Maha

Congress OBC leader Vijay Wadettiwar said a decision needed to be taken immediately, as a survey was “the only solution to all the issues related to reservation for backward communities” “Rahul Gandhi has been demanding this too,” he said. Wadettiwar also demanded that the report of the Socio-Economic Caste Census conducted in 2011 by the UPA government be made public. “The BJP government is not doing this,” he said

MUMBAI: Following the announcement of the findings of the caste-based survey in Bihar, OBC outfits and political parties in Maharashtra have reiterated their demand for a similar survey in the state.

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“We raised this issue in our meeting with the government last week,” said Pallavi Renke, state president of the Lokdhara Bhatke Vimukta Rashtriya Samiti. “We were told by deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis that though there is no provision for states to conduct a caste-based census in the Census Act, 1948, he would consider it. It will help to ascertain the actual population of OBCs, which is more than the 52 percent declared by the Mandal Commission in the 1990s.”

Congress OBC leader Vijay Wadettiwar said a decision needed to be taken immediately, as a survey was “the only solution to all the issues related to reservation for backward communities” “Rahul Gandhi has been demanding this too,” he said. Wadettiwar also demanded that the report of the Socio-Economic Caste Census conducted in 2011 by the UPA government be made public. “The BJP government is not doing this,” he said.

The Shiv Sena’s (UBT)’s Ambadas Danve, leader of the opposition in the legislative council, pointed out that data provided a base for policy decisions and was thus always important. “In the absence of authentic caste data, various communities make claims about their percentage in society,” he said. “So a caste survey will be useful not only for clarity on this but also to make policy decisions on social justice.”

According to Shiv Sena spokesperson Krishna Hegde, post-2024, most states would follow Bihar’s example. “This will help not just in women’s reservation but also in subsidies to reserved categories and other reservations which are currently in progress,” he said.

Maharashtra BJP vice-president Madhav Bhandari said that the decision needed to be taken at the central level as the issue pertained to the entire country. “There is no point in taking a decision at the state level,” he said. “I think the central government will take an appropriate call during the next census, which is expected to be done soon.”

Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said the Maharashtra government was “positive” about a caste-based survey of OBCs. “The Bihar government has not yet disclosed the entire report,” he said. “When they do, we will check its authenticity and outcome, after which a call on the survey in Maharashtra will be taken.”

NCP chief Sharad Pawar was the first to raise the demand for a nationwide caste-based survey in May last year. “Such a survey will, apart from revealing a clear picture of the population of various communities, also bring out which community is the most backward of all,” he said at Dapodi in Pune on Monday. “The central and state governments should use all their powers to bring the most backward community into the mainstream.”