Bhubaneswar: Members of a private organisation fighting for the rights of Other Backward Class (OBC), demonstrated here on Monday, demanding 27% reservation for OBCs in govt jobs and in educational institutions in Odisha. The outfit submitted a memorandum to chief minister Mohan Majhi, urging him to fulfill its demands.
“Odisha has a sizeable OBC population and the Centre provides 27% reservation to OBCs in jobs (from August 7, 1990 after the implementation of the Mandal Commission report).But here in Odisha, at present, only 11.25% reservation is given to OBCs in jobs. In education, no reservation is given to the OBC students when it comes to taking admission in engineering and in medical courses, for instance,” Rabindra Nath Behera, the chairman of OBC Forum, said.
“The state govt should conduct a caste census during the upcoming nationwide census and provide 27% reservation in the appointment of guest faculties and outsourcing staff,” Behera added.
Kishore Sutar, a member of the organisation, said, “The previous govt led by BJD conducted a caste census through the OBC Commission. We urge the current govt to make the caste census public. We want the functioning of the OBC Finance and Development Cooperative Corporation to support OBC entrepreneurs and unemployed youths so that they can start small businesses.”