Bhubaneswar: Politics in Odisha has heated up with Naveen Patnaik government launching a survey to assess the socio-economic  status of Other Backward Castes (OBC) in the state.  Odisha is the second state in tne country after Bihar to undertake this survey  but opposition parties are already seeing red. Opposition parties like BJP and Congress have questioned the timing and intention  of the government behind the survey. They have  accused the government of trying to hoodwink the OBCs to win their support in the 2024 elections. The government,  however,  insists that the survey was necessary to obtain the exact data on the OBCs so that steps can be taken to ensure their welfare.

” The timing of the survey makes the  exercise  suspect. They are not bothered about the welfare of OBCs. They never were.  Now that  the general elections are only  an year away they have launched this exercise as they want to create an impression that they actually care for this class.  They  playing the caste card as they are desperate to win the elections but they will not succeed,” said a senior  Congress leader.

Some other opposition leaders like former union minister Srikant Jena have demanded that government should  first grant the OBCs their constitutional rights. As long as that does not happen people won’t have faith in government’s exercise. 

The survey that began on May 1 will conclude on May 27. Being conducted by the Odisha State Commission for Backward Classes in both online and offline modes it will cover OBCs residing in 314 blocks and 114 urban local body (ULB) areas of the state. It will cover a number of backwardness indicators including educational qualification, occupation of the person, livelihood sources, access to hospitals and schools and the kind of houses the person lives in. 

The Commission has opened centres for submission of filled up survey forms in all Anganwadi kendras and even public distribution system (PDS) outlets. The families under survey would be required  to provide details of their ration cards and Aadhar cards or voter I cards. The  survey will cover 210 OBC communities in the state.

What makes the survey politically important is the fact that OBCs account for 54 percent of Odisha’s population and  constitute a huge vote- bank. Though unlike UP and Bihar, politics in Odisha has never been dominated by the caste factor there is no denying the political clout of the OBCs . Political parties have been trying to cultivate them for several decades.

The minister for SC&ST, minorities and Backward Classes welfare Jagannath Saraka dismisses the allegations of the opposition as politically motivated. ” The opposition may say anything but there is no politics  in this. This is an attempt to assess the socio-economic status of the OBCs'” he asserted . 

The fact is that no formal census including the  caste details of the population has been carried out in the state since 1931. The state, thus,  lacks reliable data on OBCs who currently enjoys only 11.25 percent reservation in government jobs. This, however,  is considered completely disproportionate to their population in the state. The government has not been able to raise this quota because of a cap of 50 percent on reservations mandated by courts. 

However, the Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal(BJD) has been demanding removal of 50 percent cap on reservation for quite sometime. In 2021 the party not only  reiterated this demand but also  demanded a caste-based census. Ruling party leaders say they want the cap to be removed so that the government can provide 27 percent reservation to OBCs who constitute the largest chunk of state’s population. ” Our demand for removal of tbe cap on reservations stands. At the same time  now we have launched a survey to collect authentic data on OBCs. There is no  politics in this. This concerns the welfare of the OBCs. We have a duty towards them,” said a senior BJD leader. 

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik had himself approached the Centre in the past  demanding a socio-economic caste survey to be conducted simultaneously with the proposed general census in 2021. When the   Centre did not concede the demand the state government decided to conduct its own survey and the state assembly passed a unanimous resolution to amend the Odisha State Commission for Backward Classes Act 1993 to enable the government to undertake a survey on social and educational conditions of OBCs.

However, opposition leaders are not convinced about the real intentions of the government behind carrying out this survey since it is being undertaken at a time when major parties in the state are busy preparing for 2024 elections.  The opposition leaders feel that the entire exercise is being undertaken with an eye on elections. ” If they are sincere they should conduct a door to door survey and collect authentic data, ” said State BJP OBC Morcha president Surath Biswal who  described the survey as a farce. 

However, members of the OBC community are happy and have hailed the government move. ” Better late than never. They are at least doing it now. We now hope to get  our  long overdue benefits,” said Seemantini Jena of Bhubaneswar.