BJP Govt Neglecting OBCs: BJD

Bhubaneswar: Opposition Biju Janata Dal on Thursday hit out at the BJP government accusing it of neglecting the people belonging to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

Addressing a press meet, BJD MPs Sasmit Patra and Subhashish Khuntia, and party spokesperson Lenin Mohanty said that the BJP governments both at the Centre and State are not concerned about the development of OBCs.

The previous BJD government led by Naveen Patnaik had always fought for the OBCs, the BJD leaders said.

The BJD has strongly demanded that immediate steps should be taken to carry out caste-based census in Odisha. The number of people belonging to backward class communities has to be determined for formulating welfare programmes for them, the BJD said.

The previous BJD government had demanded caste-based census in the state. The state Cabinet had also passed a resolution in January 2020 for such a census and approved a proposal for the amendment of Odisha State Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993. It had also constituted the State Commission for Backward Classes with the appointment of former High Court Judge Justice Raghunath Biswal as chairman. The Assembly on February 17, 2020, also passed unanimous resolution to amend the Odisha State Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993 to enable the state government to survey the social and educational condition of the people belonging to the backward classes, the BJD said.

Accusing the BJP government of putting the future of OBC students in dark, the BJD demanded 27 percent reservation for different categories in admission to technical and medical institutions.