OBCs underrepresented in govt jobs, politics: Report
Jaipur, Aug. 9 -- Around 30 of Rajasthan's 92 OBC communities remain severely underrepresented in political participation and government employment, with some having only a handful of government employees and the Sapera community having none, according to a report submitted by the OBC Political Representation Commission to chief minister Bhajan Lal Sharma on Wednesday.
The report, prepared ahead of the panchayat and local body elections, has highlighted stark disparities within the state's OBC communities.
An official aware of the details, citing the report, said only two families from the Sirkiwal community and five from the Hela community hold government jobs across the state. The situation of transgender persons is also concerning. According to the report, only three transgender people are politically active in the state, while only eight hold government jobs across Rajasthan. Orphan children, who are included in the OBC category, have no political representation in the state, the report said.
According to people aware of the matter, only 17 to 20 of the 92 OBC castes have a dominant presence in political participation, government jobs, agriculture and other resources. On the other hand, 18 OBC castes have fewer than 100 government employees each across the state.
Among OBC communities, Jats lead in terms of the total number of families with political participation, with 22,666 Jat families having achieved political representation. Gurjars rank second, with 9,628 families having political participation, followed by Malis and Sainis with 5,994 families. Kumawats rank fourth with 5,883 families, while Yadavs are fifth with 3,826 families having political participation. In percentage terms, however, Bishnois lead political participation. Bishnois rank first, with 2.10% of households belonging to the community having political participation, followed by Yadavs at 1.63% and Jats at 1.49%.
At the other end of the spectrum, Madari and Bazigar have eight politically participating families, Chunagar and Mochi (non-Hindu) seven each, Nat (non-Hindu) five, Bhopa/Bhopa (Nayak) five, Jagri three, transgender people three, and Hela, Nyaria (Nyargar) and Sirkiwal two each.
The disparities are similarly stark in government employment. At the bottom of the list, the Snake Charmer (non-Hindu) community has no representation in government employment, while Sirkiwal has only two government employees.
After submitting the report, retired judge ML Bhati, chairman of the OBC Political Representation Commission said, "We didn't prepare the report behind closed doors; we went out to the public to confront the truth. We collected data through surveys," Bhati said.
Speculation is rife that the state government may soon release portions of the report.The opposition, however, has demanded that the entire report be made public. LoP Tikaram Julie said, "The Rajasthan government should immediately release the OBC Commission's report. The public has every right to know what's in it. The BJP government has become accustomed to shying away from transparency."
People aware of the matter also claim that there is a proposal to keep OBC reservation at 21% of the 50% reservation limit. The issue has already triggered a political controversy....
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