Team Herald
PANJIM: A delegation of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) met Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and urged him to take immediate steps to conduct a caste-based census of OBC communities in the State.
The delegation headed by former Minister Dayanand Mandrekar stated that they were concerned for the deprivation of socio-economic and political benefits to the OBCs in Goa due to incorrect and inadequate population data for more than a decade. The OBC comprises 19 castes which forms one-third population of the State. Considering the socio-economic and political backwardness of the community, the government extended reservation to OBCs.
The delegation stated that there was urgent need to conduct comprehensive caste-based census for the OBC in the State. The last such exercise was carried out during the 2011 census and it was critical to update the data in line with the current socio-economic realities. An updated census would ensure that the allocation of resources was equitable and collective of the current population distribution and the specific needs.
Given that considerable time had elapsed since the last census, the current data no longer provides a reliable basis for policy formulation. According to them, the OBC communities have been deprived of their rights due to unavailability or inadequacy of their correct population data.