Odisha: BJD seeks law to end 50% cap on quota, demands caste-based census

BHUBANESWAR: The BJD on Wednesday demanded a central legislation empowering states to do away with 50% cap on reservation and conducting caste-based census for socially and educationally backward classes (SEBC)s.
On a day Rajya Sabha debated and passed the 127th constitutional amendment Bill meant to restore states’ rights to decide on their backward class list, a delegation of BJD MPs met Union home minister Amit Shah and submitted a memorandum in support of their demands.
“A detailed scientific database is very much required with regards to SEBC/OBC category for formulation of accurate reservation policy for holistic development, welfare and upliftment of these categories of population,” the memorandum by the BJD MPs to Shah said.
Pointing out that the Supreme Court and the various high courts have struck down quota for OBCs on the ground that the policies were made without any scientific data base of the OBC population, the regional party demanded appropriate columns in the Census 2021 form for their identification
The BJD said it wants to provide 27% reservation to SEBCs/OBCs but courts have repeatedly struck down the move on the ground of quota exceeding 50%. Odisha had passed a law in 2009 — The Odisha Reservation of Posts and Services (For Socially and Educationally Backward Classes) Act, 2008 — to provide 27% quota to backward classes.
The Orissa high court struck it down in June 2017 stating that the overall percentage of reservation can’t go beyond 50% in the existing scenario. On the same ground, the HC in April 2018 stopped the state from reserving 50% seats in urban local body election for OBCs.
Earlier, participating in the OBC Bill debate in Rajya Sabha, BJD members Prasanna Acharya and Amar Patnaik pressed for caste-based census and central laws to ensure OBCs get their due share in jobs and education. “The courts are rejecting the state laws on OBC quotas because there is no scientific data on their numbers and status. Our contention is that a caste-based census can address that,” Acharya told TOI.
Amar said true welfare of OBCs can happen only after it is known “for whom” and “for how many”. “While the first requires a caste census and enumeration, the latter may require breaching the ceiling of 50%. Naveen Patnaik has acted on both. We are the first in the country to start our enumeration. We also want central law to empower states to breach the ceiling as the SC (in Indira Sawney case) has set that ceiling and is unwilling to revisit,” Amar said.
Responding to the BJD, Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan said when the HC struck down the Odisha law, nothing had prevented it from going to the Supreme Court. “You (BJD government) only have pretension. Fifty-two per cent people in Odisha belong to the backward classes. Only Lord Jagannath knows what’s in your mind,” Pradhan said while participating in a debate on the OBC Bill in the Upper House.
Pradhan said, “When the Mandal Commission recommendations on quota was implemented in the 1990s, then Odisha government, led by Biju Patnaik, had moved the Supreme Court against it. Now the BJD leaders are saying they want to hike quota, but their hands are tied.”
Earlier, Odisha as well as Maharashtra had requested the Centre to enumerate SEBCs in the census. Odisha has started the OBC enumeration on its own after the Centre rejected its demand.