The Naveen Patnaik government has introduced Odisha State Commission For Backward Classes (Amendment) Bill, 2023 for inclusion of 22 castes in the State list of Other Backward Classes.
The State government has proposed amendment in Section 9 of the Act by inserting, “notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), the State government, may, by notification, include such backward classes in the list, if the said backward classes have been specified in the Central list in relation to Odisha.” The amendment would enable the State government to include caste name in the socially and educationally backward classes (SEBC) list by a notification.
“There are 22 castes and communities along with their synonyms, which have already been included in the list of OBCs for Odisha through various notifications of Centre from time to time, but the same caste and communities have not yet been included in the SEBC list of the State,” said Jagannath Saraka, ST and SC Development, Minorities and Backward Classes Welfare Minister, on Friday.
He said for enabling all social welfare measures and benefits to the people belonging to these Backward Classes in Odisha, it is proposed to make necessary amendment in Odisha State Commission of Backward Classes Act 1993, so that under special circumstances, the State government through notification can include any class of citizens as Backward Class in the State list, if the said class has already been notified by Government of India as OBC for the State of Odisha.
Recently, the Odisha State Commission for Backward Classes after examining the requests for inclusion of certain castes and communities had recommended the State government for inclusion of 22 castes. These castes include Badhei, Bindhani, Baraji, Baroi, Sankhua Tanti, Gandhamali, Haladia Teli and Kalandi.
As the politics centered around OBCs has gained momentum in the recent past, both Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have been aggressive in cornering the votes of the community. The Naveen Patnaik government is now preparing to conduct caste census in order to justify future targeted welfare schemes for the castes. The Odisha unit of BJP on Thursday reappointed Manmohan Samal as chief of the party unit. While he belongs to OBC community, heads of most major political parties are from upper castes.
