5 months on, MSBCC yet to begin gathering data on OBC communities

Govt to amend original terms of reference given to the Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission in June; may limit census to just a sample survey

MUMBAI: More than five months after the state constituted a 10-member team in the Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission (MSBCC) to collect empirical data on Other Backward Class (OBC) communities in Maharashtra following a Supreme Court order in March, the commission’s proposal is still awaiting the government’s nod.

MSBCC officials said the state was yet to take a decision on the state-wide census proposed by them, and has instead proposed a change in the original terms of reference seeking to limit the exercise to a sample survey.

“The SC has pointed to the lack of empirical data. As the Centre has refused to conduct a caste census, the state government feels we cannot go against this policy by launching our own exercise. Hence, it is working on amending the original terms of reference given to the MSBCC in June by limiting this to just a sample survey. These revised terms of reference are awaited. However, a sample has its limitations and cannot be used to credibly establish backwardness and ward-wise population. A legal tangle awaits us,” an MSBCC official who wish to be anonymous, said.

Vijay Wadettiwar, the minister heading the Vimukta Jati Nomadic Tribes, OBC and Special Backward Class welfare department, could not be contacted. The department’s principal secretary Indra Mallo said the issue was “under the active consideration of the govern

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