Odisha government to begin Backward Classes survey from May 1

By Sukant Mohanty

Bhubaneswar, March 16: The Odisha government has finally decided to commence the survey of the Backward Classes from May 1 and complete the exercise by May 27.

There are at least 208 communities in the OBC category in Odisha.  Official sources said the state government plans to launch the caste survey for their enumeration and collect data on the socio-economic conditions of people from all the backward classes.

The state government has released a notification in this regard that reads, “In exercise of the powers conferred by the Sub-section 1(a) of Section 9 of the OSCBC Act, 1993 read with OSCBC (Amendment) Act, 2020, the Government of Odisha have been pleased to approve the proposal of the Odisha State Commission for Backward Classes to conduct a survey of the social and educational conditions of the people belonging to the Backward Classes in Odisha.”

The entire process of the survey in all 314 blocks and areas under 114 civic bodies in the State is scheduled to be completed by May 27, 2023.

However, the Opposition smelled something fishy in the move of the government ahead of the 2024 general and assembly elections. The opposition parties described it as an attempt by the ruling BJD to attract voters from the backward classes. The Opposition termed the government’s move as ‘vote bank politics’ and said it has a hidden agenda behind it.

“We demanded a backward class survey long ago. However, the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) headed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik did not pay any heed to it. As a result of which many backward class people were deprived of their benefits that they deserved to get. However, as the elections are round the corner, the state government has suddenly woken up to placate the backward classes’ voters,” said Manoranjan Mohanty, Congress spokesperson.

On the other hand, the state government maintained that the survey was being conducted to make effective policies and ensure the socio-economic development of the backward classes and improve the social and educational conditions of the people belonging to the backward classes in the State.