Religion, Caste And Tribe Based Reservation - 4

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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>'Surnames' a roadblock in OBC census </b>
Rajeev Ranjan Roy | New Delhi
The other backward class (OBC) census seems to be easier said than done. The sheer number of OBC castes with confusing surnames, sounding that of the scheduled castes and others, are being stated as a major obstacle in their identification.

The Registrar General of India (RGI) in response to the request of the Social Justice & Empowerment Ministry to conduct the OBC census has prominently raised the issue of common surnames among OBCs and others.

<b>"In States like Bihar, the surnames cannot be taken as a criterion to establish one's caste identity. Rajputs and Bhumihar in the State, both upper castes, prominently use the Singh surname. It is equally popular among several OBC castes like Yadav, Kushwaha and Kurmis,"</b> an official at the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) said. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->

In view of such difficulties, the RGI has suggested the Ministry to go for surveys of OBCs by the State Governments. "The OBC population census will not be the right instrument for assessing the number of OBCs in the country. The respective State Governments are in a better position to ascertain their population through surveys," the RGI has suggested the Ministry.

Which is why the Commission is busy with excluding and including different castes in the OBC list. At the same time, there is similarity coherence between the state and the central lists of OBC. "<b>For example, the Mahars in Goa are listed as an OBC caste in the central list, while they are scheduled castes in Maharashtra," </b>he said.

<b>"The existence of such anomalies in the two OBC lists is simply a pointer to the complexity and difficulty the Government would face in enumerating their population. Such anomalies crop up in the central list, despite the fact that the commission upgrades the final list in consultation with the state commissions. It is such a complicated process,"</b> the official said.

<b>"The total number of castes under SCs and STs in India was 1,885. Despite that, at the Census 2001 more than 18,748 entries were returned. Many of these were surnames, clan names, even names of the non-SC/ST communities. Their classification and groupism under the appropriate SC/ST category was a formidable task,"</b> the RGI communicated to the Ministry recently.

"In view of the complex nature of entries, it will be at the discretion of census enumerator to identify or categorise a community or individual as an OBC. This will get bogged down in microscopic and long drawn out enquiries and arguments with the respondents for identifying a community or individual as an OBC," the RGI has further added.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->