Cong MLAs seek Guv intervention

Bhubaneswar: The Congress legislators in Odisha on Thursday sought the intervention of Governor Raghubar Das to enhance reservation for SC, ST and OBCs in technical and medical education in the State.

The Congress MLAs have been raising the issue in the State Assembly for the past few days. Senior Congress MLA Taraprasad Bahinipati on Thursday again raised the issue during zero hour and demanded a ruling from the Speaker.As the Speaker did not give any ruling on the matter, expressing displeasure, the Congress members, led by Rama Chandra Kadam, staged a walkout from the House and went to Raj Bhavan and sought the Governor’s intervention. In a memorandum submitted to the Governor, the Congress MLAs said “gross injustice” was being faced by students belonging to the Other Backward Classes (OBC), Scheduled Castes (SC), and Scheduled Tribes (ST) in the State.

These groups collectively make up 94 per cent of the State’s population, with SC-ST forming 40 per cent and OBC constituting 54 per cent, they claimed.”Unfortunately, despite their significant demographic representation, they continue to suffer from inequities in access to higher education and employment opportunities due to the State’s reservation policies,” the MLAs said.

Alleging that there is a disparity in the reservation policies for OBC, SC, and ST students in Odisha, the Congress leaders said the government is providing 22.5 per cent for STs, 16.25 per cent for SCs, and 11.25 per cent for OBCs in employment. However, in higher education, particularly in technical courses such as MBBS and engineering, STs receive only 12 per cent, SCs 8 per cent, and the OBCs have no reservation at all, they claimed.

“While the State government implemented the Centre’s 2019 directive to reserve 10 per cent of seats for economically weaker sections (EWS), benefiting just 6 per cent of the population, it has remained silent on providing OBC students (54 per cent in population) their due share,” they said. Due to this biased reservation policy, hundreds of students from OBC, SC and ST categories are being denied their constitutional rights to pursue higher education each year, they alleged.