The BJP on Monday issued a whip to its Rajya Sabha MPs for the election to the Committee on Welfare of Other Backward Classes (OBC) asking them to be present on Tuesday and vote according to the preferences indicated.
“All members of the BJP in the Rajya Sabha are, therefore, requested to be positively cast their vote on Tuesday, the 19th August, in favour of the candidates as per the preferences indicated in the sample ballot paper, to be given to them by the staff sitting outside room no 63, Samvidhan Sadan,” read a notice by BJP’s chief whip in the upper house of Parliament Laxmikant Bajpai.
The voting for the election to the Committee will be held from 11 am to 2 am on August 19, in Samvidhan Sadhan.
The Parliamentary Committee on the Welfare of OBCs works for upliftment of the community, examine the measures taken by the government to secure representation of OBCs in various job posts, report to Parliament on the action taken by the government, and consider reports submitted by the National Commission for Backward Classes under Article 338B of the Constitution.
The committee consists of 30 members, 20 from Lok Sabha and 10 from Rajya Sabha. First constituted in 2011, the committee has been annually reconstituted, except for in 2020-21. Currently, it functions under the chairmanship of Ganesh Singh. Other members of the committee include Manickam Tagore, Vijay Baghel, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, Kota Srinvasa Poojary, V Sivadasan, Ashok Singh, C V Shanmugam, among others.
Recently, the committee had a sitting on August 7, to discuss the Consideration and Adoption of the Draft Reports on action taken by the Government on the Observations/Recommendations of the Committee, including the sixth report of the committee on implementation of various schemes for welfare of OBCs, under the ministry of social justice and empowerment.
The committee is also set to meet on August 20 to discuss the evidence given by representatives of Railway Board on the subject of ‘Measures undertaken to secure representation of OBCs in employment and for their welfare in Railway Zones, PSUs and other organisations.’