Odisha to constitute Commission for Backward Classes

BHUBANESWAR: The state government on Wednesday announced to constitute a commission for backward classes, which will be headed by a retired judge of the Orissa high court.
The move came barely a month after the state cabinet passed a resolution to move the Centre for a socio-economic caste enumeration along with the general census 2021. On January 13, chief secretary Asit Tripathy had requested Union cabinet secretary Rajiv Gauba to consider the proposal for a caste-based census, on which the Centre is yet to take any call.
Former Orissa HC judge Justice Raghunath Biswal would head the commission while academicians like Navneeta Rath (professor in sociology), Mitali Chinara (professor in economic) and Prasanna Kumar Patra (professor in anthropology) will be the members of the commission. Serving bureaucrat VV Yadav will be the member secretary of the commission, said an official statement.
The five-member commission has been constituted in accordance with the provisions under the Odisha State Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993, a law that was formulated when Naveen’s father Biju Patnaik was the chief minister of the state.
The 1993 law empowers the commission to examine requests of inclusion of any class of citizen in the backward class list. It also can hear complains of over inclusion and under inclusion of any backward classes list.
The commission has the power to advise the state government on inclusion or exclusion of any communities in the backward classes list. The advice of the commission shall ordinarily be binding upon the state government.
The state government’s move assumes significance as it has been facing flak for not constituting the backward commission.
Though there has been no official census to enumerate the number of socially and educationally backward classes (SEBC), the backward classes or SEBCs in the state account for around 54 per cent of state’s population, which forms an important segment for any political party. There are around 209 communities identified as SEBCs in the state.
Odisha had enacted the Orissa Reservation of Posts and Services (for SEBC) Act, 2008 that had aimed to provide 27 per cent quota to the backward communities in public recruitment. After facing legal hurdle, the percentage was brought down to 11.25 per cent to cap the reservation at 50 per cent.
Union petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who had earlier criticized the state government’s move for a caste-based census, said commission for backward classes become a reality because of the long-standing demand of the backward classes.
“Though late, the state government has constituted the commission because of the long-standing demand of the backward classes. The state government should take prompt steps to ensure due constitutional right to the OBC,” Pradhan tweeted.
Pradhan had also slammed the state government for depriving the OBCs from their constitutional rights for the last 30 years by not providing them 27 per cent reservations in government jobs and educational institutions.
Former Union minister Srikant Jena said, “The state government has finally succumbed to the pressure of the outfits fights for rights of backward classes. Formation of the commission is a welcome move, but it remains to be seen, what power it will give to the backward commission.”