Bhubaneswar: A day after the Centre approved the inclusion of caste enumeration in the next Census, Opposition BJD and Congress starts taking full credit of the major decision of the Modi government. BJP rejects their claim and said all credit goes to Prime Minister.
Senior BJD leader and former Minister Arun Kumar Sahoo said that party president Naveen Patnaik had first envisioned the idea of conducting a caste enumeration in the country.
“The Centre was finally forced to go for caste enumeration only because of the pressure mounted on them,” Shri Sahoo said.
Since reservations are currently based on caste, a proper census can help improve the reservation system, he pointed out.
In Odisha, SC and ST communities together make up around 38.75 per cent of the population, while OBCs constitute about 54 per cent, the BJD leader claimed, adding that OBCs receive only 11.2 per cent reservation in jobs and none in education.
“The BJD demands that reservations be proportional to population, which would require revising the current legal cap of 50 per cent on total reservations,” he said.
BJD leader and former minister Snehangini Chhuria said, “Although the central government has agreed for the caste-based census, it should not be used as an election stunt. Everyone knows that the central government had opposed it earlier. Now that it is announced, there should be sincere steps to use it to ensure social justice for all sections.”
She said a caste-based census can ensure proper reservation not just for SCs and STs, but also for OBCs, thereby helping establish social justice in the country.
Similarly, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) Bhakta Charan Das said Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi has been advocating for the caste-based census since a long time, both in Parliament and outside.
“They (BJP) criticised our leader and dismissed his arguments. But, now they have been forced to accept our demand,” Das said.
He criticised the NDA for taking a decade to take the decision. Das also took aim at the previous BJD government, which remained in power in Odisha for 24 years.
He noted that although the OBC population in the state is around 54 per cent, they receive only 11.27 per cent reservation in government recruitment.
Congress workers, led by OPCC president Shri Das also celebrated the development with a ‘Vijay Utsav’ at the party’s state headquarters this evening.
However, senior BJP leader and Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi rejected the allegations of the Congress and the BJD.
“There is no pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Everybody knew that the BJP Government does not work under pressure from anybody. The decision to go face a caste enumeration is taken at the appropriate time,” Sarangi said.
“Our government is very much committed to the welfare of the vulnerable, deprived people of all castes. This is a very much considered decision of the government and will be a significant milestone,” the BJP MP said.