Bhubaneswar: Chairman of the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC), Bhagwan Lal Sahni, on Tuesday criticised the Odisha government for its apathy towards the backward community.
“The people of the Other Backward Classes (OBC) are deprived of their rights. Though the OBC comprise 54 per cent of the total population in Odisha, the state government has not made 27 per cent reservation for the community in job and education. While there is a provision for reservation for the SC and ST communities in proportion to the population, why the same provision is not applied for the OBC? The state government should follow the policy of the states like Tamil Nadu and Karnataka that have made 50 per cent reservation for the OBC,” Sahni told mediapersons after meeting the representatives of several OBC organisations here.
He also came down heavily on the state government for not appointing the chairperson of OBC in the state.
Apart from the OBC representatives, a delegation of the state BJP leaders also met Sahni and urged him to direct the state government to take necessary steps for reservation in education and jobs for the OBC community.
Earlier in the day, Sahni had a meeting with Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy and DGP Abhay.
The BJD, in a statement, expressed surprise as to how NCBC was not aware of the fact that the state government had made reservations for the OBC community in accordance with the directive of the Supreme Court.
