Religion, Caste And Tribe Based Reservation - 3

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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Two Govt reports question Mandal statistics
Pioneer.com
Rajeev Ranjan Roy | New Delhi
OBC figure 33.5 per cent, not 52 per cent ---- Did the Government deliberately sit on facts on OBC population in the midst of the ongoing quota row? Going by a report of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, the answer is a definite "yes".  

The National Sample Survey Organisation report of 1999-2000 pegs the overall OBC population at 33.5 per cent, 37.52 per cent in rural areas, and 30.38 per cent in the urban segment. The Mandal Commission report had pegged the OBC population at 52 per cent.

Instead of taking judicious note of the NSSO report, a key department of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, the Centre has followed the fallacious impression that the OBCs account for almost 52 per cent of the total population. The NSSO survey released in September 2001 put the population of non-OBC/SC/ST at around 55 per cent including minority communities too.

Among all States covered by the Ministry in the survey, <b>Tamil Nadu has the largest number of OBC population, accounting for 63.09 per cent of rural population and 68.13 per cent of the urban population.</b>

The report adds substance to West Bengal CPI-M unit secretary Biman Bose assertion that <b>the State's Left Front Government would not reserve 27 per cent quota for OBCs, as they account for only 6.45 per cent of the State's total population.</b>

"The percentage of SC/ST/OBC population in NSSO report is based on the survey of the castes as identified by the Government of India. Given the magnitude of the report, the figures must be close to the reality. Differences could be of a few per cents if caste-wise census is done. Otherwise, our findings are quite authentic," a Ministry official, requesting anonymity, said.

In all, NSSO surveyed as many as 6,046 villages covering 4,116 blocks across the country. In all, 71,385 rural and 48,924 urban households were surveyed to ascertain the citizens socio-economic status. In rural areas, 3,74,856 people were surveyed to know their social and economic status, while in the urban areas, 2,25,160 people were surveyed.

The statement titled "Percentage distribution of persons by social groups in rural and urban areas of major States" in the <b>NSS Report Number 472 gives an overview of the OBC population in 15 States. They are - Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal</b>.

Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the so-called cauldron of 'social justice' politics, have less than 50 per cent OBC population. In UP, OBCs account for only 37.2 per cent of the total population, while the figure is 49.09 per cent in Bihar. In Madhya Pradesh, OBC population is 41.50 per cent and 36.47 per cent in rural and urban population respectively. In Karnataka, OBCs account for 39.15 per cent of rural population. In urban population, their presence is 30.65 per cent.

After Tamil Nadu, Kerala is the only State where OBCs account for over 50 per cent of total population. They account for 51.08 per cent and 55.32 per cent of the rural and urban population respectively.

In Andhra, they account for around 42 per cent of the total population, and in Orissa around 27 per cent. In Rajasthan, OBCs account for 31 per cent of total population, and in Gujarat around 28 per cent.

<b>NSSO survey puts SC population at 17.38 per cent, a little higher than 16.23 per cent of Census 2001. According to the survey, STs account for around 7 per cent of the country's total population against 8 per cent plus as per Census 2001. "Going by the population of SC/ST as established by NSSO survey that is very close to the Census 2001 figure, the OBC population should not be more than 35 per cent under any circumstances,"</b> the official said.
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