On Tuesday, Bhupesh Baghel, the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding the Centre to conduct the decadal census and that asked for a separate column for the collection of data about the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) people.
Baghel recalled that he asked for 27% reservation for Chhattisgarh’s OBCs and requested the law to include this issue in the ninth schedule of the Constitution.
Baghel, in his letter to PM Modi wrote, ” I am sure you will agree that it is necessary to provide reservation to the large population of OBCs, who have been deprived of socio-political rights for centuries. This decision is necessary to keep up the spirit of equality and social justice provided by the constitution.”
The Chhattisgarh Public Service (Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes Reservation) Amendment Act and an amendment bill related to admission in educational institutions was referred to by Baghel that were passed by the assembly last year during a special session in December but stalled in Raj Bhavan.
The legislation proposed to increase the OBC quota from the present 14% to 27% and the SC quota from 12% to 13%, in line with the population of these two communities. It also proposed reservation to the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) by 4%, taking the reservation’s total extent to 76% in the state.
Baghel said that the denying of constitutional rights to this major population would upset them.
He said that it was beyond comprehension that despite all the efforts of the state government, people belonging to other backward classes were not being provided the benefit of 27% reservation.