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Gehlot urges Centre to conduct caste census for SC/ST/OBC

The Rajasthan chief minister said the census was necessitated in view of the demand for increased quota as the population of the scheduled categories has increased with the times.

Gehlot urges Centre to conduct caste census for SC/ST/OBC

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot [File Photo]

Six months before the assembly elections in the state, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday urged the Central government to conduct fresh caste-based census for the people of Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC) in view of the demand for increased quota as their population has increased with the times.

The state government will get SC/ST/OBC status reviewed through OBC commission and better mathematics, and OBC’s quota can be raised from 21 to 27 percent, Gehlot told the media on his tour to Udaipur to take stock of the Mehangai Bachat Rahat Camp.

He recalled when he became chief minister of Rajasthan first time in 1998, an OBC quota of 21 per cent was affected while the SC quota was doubled from 8 to 16 per cent and for ST from 6 to 12 per cent. “Now, the 50 per cent limit on quota is saturated for all categories, thus a fresh census and rise in quota is required,” he added.

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The Congress government would again try to do it after consulting the concerned commissions and the fresh census, Gehlot underlined. He, however, hoped that there shall not be any party/politics on it.

It was the Congress government that provided a 5 per cent MBC (most backward caste) quota in jobs educational institutions to the Gujjars, Banjaras Gadia Lohars, Raikas and Gadarias.

He said a resolution has been passed in the national convention of the Congress held at Raipur, and the Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has also written a letter to the PM in this connection.

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