By Sundeep Pouranik
Raipur, April 23 Caste census is becoming a big issue in the country's politics. The process of a caste census has also started in Bihar, but Chhattisgarh is engaged in collecting caste data through different routes.
A Quantifiable Data Commission was constituted by the Chhattisgarh government in 2019 to survey people belonging to Other Backward Classes and Economically Weaker Sections categories in the state.
The report of this commission has not been made public yet. But according to the government's report, the state's population includes 41 per cent OBCs.
The Reservation Amendment Bill regarding giving reservation to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, OBCs and EWS in the state was unanimously passed in the assembly in December and submitted to the Governor by five ministers. The bill has still not received the assent of the Governor.
The Congress and Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel have been continuously raising questions about it.
Baghel wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the caste census started in Bihar and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also raised the issue of a caste census.
The letter stated that the Reservation (Amendment) bill for SC, ST, OBC and EWS people on the basis of the population of different sections is pending approval of the Governor after being passed by the Assembly.
The Assembly had decided to give 13 per cent reservation to Scheduled Castes, 32 per cent to Scheduled Tribes, 27 per cent to Other Backward Classes and four per cent to the Economically Weaker Sections. The bill is pending approval with the Governor.
Baghel said in the letter that with the constitution bench of the Supreme Court upholding the 10 per cent EWS quota, the road for caste quota beyond the 50 per cent cap has been opened.
Resolutions have also been passed in the Jharkhand and Karnataka assemblies to increase the reservation percentage for various classes to more than 50 per cent.
Therefore, keeping in view the special circumstances of Chhattisgarh, only by including the amended provision in the Ninth List of the Constitution, will the people of deprived and backward classes be able to get justice.
Sushil Anand Shukla, head of the communication department in the Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee, said: "The census is necessary for the welfare of the public and the caste census is necessary for the welfare of every class."
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