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Express News Service
NEW DELHI: The much-awaited Bihar caste survey results have provided a potent political weapon for the Opposition parties to counter the BJP ahead of the 2024 general election.
The Bihar survey has revealed that Other Backward Classes and Extremely Backward Classes together account for 63 per cent of the state’s total population.
The Congress party underscored the importance of assessing the caste statistics of India, with party MP Rahul Gandhi, who has upped the ante on the demand for a caste census in poll-bound states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, reiterating the issue of underrepresentation in top government jobs. “The caste census of Bihar has revealed that OBC + SC + ST are 84% in the state. Therefore, it is important to know the caste statistics of India,” he said.
Gandhi wrote on X that “out of 90 secretaries of the Central Government, only 3 are OBC who handle only 5 per cent of India’s budget. The greater the population, the greater the rights – this is our pledge.” After the formation of the Opposition bloc INDIA alliance, the social justice parties and Congress have come together on the new social justice agenda as the election plank ahead of the crucial election.
The parties have raised demands to conduct a nationwide caste census to assess the deprivation levels and check whether welfare schemes have reached the last person at the bottom of the pyramid. The parties argue that a caste census will help to identify the economically and socially deprived sections.
Though the Mandal Commission has pegged the OBC population at 52 per cent, there is a feeling among the community that its numerical strength must have grown manifold over the years and it is left behind on affirmative action. At present, quota for the OBCs is capped at 27 per cent in government jobs, as 22.5 per cent reservation already existed for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
NEW DELHI: The much-awaited Bihar caste survey results have provided a potent political weapon for the Opposition parties to counter the BJP ahead of the 2024 general election.
The Bihar survey has revealed that Other Backward Classes and Extremely Backward Classes together account for 63 per cent of the state’s total population.
The Congress party underscored the importance of assessing the caste statistics of India, with party MP Rahul Gandhi, who has upped the ante on the demand for a caste census in poll-bound states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, reiterating the issue of underrepresentation in top government jobs. “The caste census of Bihar has revealed that OBC + SC + ST are 84% in the state. Therefore, it is important to know the caste statistics of India,” he said.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
Gandhi wrote on X that “out of 90 secretaries of the Central Government, only 3 are OBC who handle only 5 per cent of India’s budget. The greater the population, the greater the rights – this is our pledge.” After the formation of the Opposition bloc INDIA alliance, the social justice parties and Congress have come together on the new social justice agenda as the election plank ahead of the crucial election.
The parties have raised demands to conduct a nationwide caste census to assess the deprivation levels and check whether welfare schemes have reached the last person at the bottom of the pyramid. The parties argue that a caste census will help to identify the economically and socially deprived sections.
Though the Mandal Commission has pegged the OBC population at 52 per cent, there is a feeling among
the community that its numerical strength must have grown manifold over the years and it is left behind on affirmative action. At present, quota for the OBCs is capped at 27 per cent in government jobs, as 22.5 per cent reservation already existed for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
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