Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to get the national census done with a separate code for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
Baghel also called for shifting the headquarter of NMDC from Hyderabad to Jagdalpur in Chhattisgarh so that it generates employment opportunities to the locals.
The Chief Minister sought an initiative at the earliest on the sensitive matter of reservation for OBCs.
Baghel reminded Modi that in April 2023, he had requested the Prime Minister to raise reservation for OBCs to 27 per cent in Chhattisgarh and to include this subject in the 9th Schedule of the Constitution.
“I am sure you will agree that it is necessary to provide reservation to the large population of OBCs who have been deprived of socio-political rights for centuries. This is necessary to keep up the spirit of equality and social justice provided by the Constitution."
Baghel said the bills to implement 32, 13, 27 and 4 percent reservation for Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, OBCs and EWS respectively was passed by the state assembly in December 2022 but had not got the approval of the Governor.
“It is beyond comprehension that despite all the efforts of the state government,,people belonging to OBCs are not being provided the benefit of 27 percent reservation,” he said.