There has been a heavy demand for a caste census in the country and the All India Federation of Other Backward Classes Employees’ Welfare Associations has frequently voiced this demand from the Centre as well. In light of the Puducherry Government introducing 10 per cent internal reservation for government school students in medical admissions to the Tamil Nadu government implementing 7.5 per cent NEET quota in medical admissions, the Association is asked why the Government is not ensuring a proper census to ensure people are able to avail these reservations.
"We are demanding a caste-wise census," AIOBC General Secretary, G Karunanidhy said. “The Supreme Court has sought the government’s response to a PIL seeking enumeration of Dalits and castes bunched under ‘Other Backward Classes’ with regard to their social, educational and financial status in Census 2021 to determine the eligibility of a caste for reservation in government jobs and admissions to higher education institutions,” the statement said. They also added, that the bench issued notices to the Home Ministry, the Registrar General and Census Commission and the National Commission for Backward Classes and sought their responses to the PIL, which said enumeration of social and financial status of OBCs was essential for implementation of reservation in letter and spirit as envisioned by the Constitution.
“In a similar plea in the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court, Judges N Kirubakaran and B Pugazhendhi issued notices to the Centre to respond on conducting OBC enumeration in Census 2021,” they pointed out. The statement also threw light on the fact that the National Commission for Backward Classes had written to Banaras Hindu University Vice Chancellor Rakesh Bhatnagar seeking a response to how 203 teaching posts meant for OBCs went missing. The Association also pointed that the NCBC conducted a hearing in October 2020 in relation to the implementation of OBC reservation in All India Quota seats contributed by the States for admission in medical colleges.
Karunanidhy also stressed on the fact that there was zero OBC reservation in National Law University admissions as well. “Despite clear directives and warnings by NCBC to all VCs of NLUs in response to a complaint given in 2019 that NLUs are not implementing 27 percent reservation for OBCs, still, the NLUs are defiant and unless strict action is taken against erring officials there seems to be no light for the OBCs,” the statement said. Even UCO bank had an anomaly in reservation before it was rectified recently, they added. In the statement, the general secretary also recalled that the Supreme Court had rejected 50 percent reservation for OBCs in medical seats.
