New Delhi: For the first time in more than 70 years, a sample count of the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) has been made with an official survey pegging their numbers at 41 per cent of India's population.
The OBC numbers have been in debate ever since the V P Singh government announced 27 per cent reservation for OBCs based on the Mandal Commission recommendations and there has been strong resentment to claims that the section constitutes more than 70 per cent of the population.
The National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), which enumerated 79,306 households in rural areas and 45,374 in urban regions, concluded that besides OBCs, people belonging to the Scheduled Castes account for 20 per cent of the population.
Those belonging to the Scheduled Tribes formed eight per cent of the population, the survey said.
The number of sample households for the social groups ST, SC, OBC and others were 12,694, 13,929, 30,116 and 22,502 respectively in the urban areas and 3,509, 6,355, 16,232 and 19,257 respectively in the urban regions.
While no separate census has been conducted on OBC numbers since the 1930s, a Supreme Court bench comprising Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice L S Panta had, on October 16, wondered how the present UPA government announced a quota policy for OBCs in higher education without studying their population.
"As of today Government have no complete data on reservation," the Bench had observed adding that, "You announce the policy without full data. You play the game first without the rule in place."
The government has proposed extending 27.5 reservation for OBCs to higher education institutes.
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