People still turn up for help at defunct OBC office in Delhi | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
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People still turn up for help at defunct OBC office in Delhi

Hindustan Times, New Delhi | By
Sep 11, 2017 10:01 AM IST

Officials part of administrative staff said many like Kumar still turn up at the desolate Trikoot building, where the NCBC has an office; only there is no help available.

Overlooked for a government job, Ashish Kumar, an OBC from Uttar Pradesh’s Basti was in the capital to knock on the doors of the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC). What Kumar was hoping for was a patient hearing and recourse, what he received was news of the NCBC being defunct.

People from Other Backward Classes (OBC) protest in front of Congress president Sonia Gandhi's residence in New Delhi.(HT File Photo)
People from Other Backward Classes (OBC) protest in front of Congress president Sonia Gandhi's residence in New Delhi.(HT File Photo)

Several hours of wait and uncertainty were followed by a quick meeting with an official, who is part of the secretariat, but had little to offer. The official, unsure of how to help Kumar, referred him to the department of personnel and training.

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“The file has to go to DoPT, there is no secretariat here,” the official explained to Kumar, who wore his anxiety palpably and sat clutching a bunch of documents, including his marksheet.

With a degree in information and technology, Kumar claims he scored more than the candidate, who landed the teaching job. The OBC commission was his last resort, “I am an OBC and a physically challenged person, and I also scored more than the person who was selected. No one in the state had any answers so I came here,” he told HT.

Officials part of administrative staff said many like Kumar still turn up at the desolate Trikoot building, where the NCBC has an office; only there is no help available.

Positions of the chairperson, three members and a secretary are vacant at the NCBC, after the government dismantled the commission to bring in its place a new body with constitutional powers, similar to the commission for scheduled castes and tribes.

“The Commission’s role was limited to exclusion and inclusion of communities in the OBC list, even before it was dismantled we had little powers to help people,” an official said on condition of anonymity.

The government for its part says it was with this intent to arm the NCBC with constitutional powers that it proposed a new commission after introducing a Bill.

Its efforts came a cropper after the Bill to set up a new commission tabled in Parliament by the ministry of social justice and empowerment failed to get the support of the Opposition.

Social justice minister Thawarchand Gehlot says his ministry is doing what it can to help people.  “Earlier too there wasn’t really a commission. Whether it was the Mandal Commission or the Kaka Kelkar commission; they were set up based on certain issues, and wound up after giving their reports. We need a system where the OBC commission will be set up like the SC/ST commission which has constitutional powers,” he said.

The Opposition, primarily the Congress’s resistance to pass the Bill has given the BJP a handle to criticise the grand old party.

Bhupender Yadav, the BJP’s general secretary and chairperson of the select committee of Rajya Sabha that submitted its report on NCBC to Parliament, said the demand for granting constitutional status to NCBC has been long pending, but is being obstructed by the Congress.

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    Smriti covers an intersection of politics and governance. Having spent over a decade in journalism, she combines old fashioned leg work with modern story telling tools.

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