Odisha govt starts OBC survey

Bhubaneswar: The much-awaited survey of the other backward classes (OBCs) started across Odisha on Monday, an official said.

The survey is being conducted by the Odisha State Commission for Backward Classes in both online and offline mode and will continue till May 27.

It is being carried out in all 314 blocks and 114 urban local bodies of the state.

Odisha is incidentally the second state after Bihar to conduct an OBC survey.

The survey will encompass various indicators of backwardness such as occupation, educational qualification along with the type of educational institutions attended by members of the households to gauge the social and educational conditions of the backwardness in Odisha, the official said.

The commission has opened centres in all the Anganwadi kendras and also in different PDS outlets where people from the community can submit their details and complete the survey.

The social and educational conditions of 208 OBC communities enlisted by the state government will be collected during the survey, which will be followed by a special drive to ensure that none were left out across the state, the official added.

“The objective of the survey is to get a picture of the present social and educational conditions of the people belonging to backward classes in Odisha,” he said.

The state government in a notification said the survey will be carried out under the powers conferred by section 9 of the Odisha State Commission for Backward Classes (OSCBC) Act, 1993 and OSCBC (Amendment) Act, 2020.

According to the provisions of the two Acts, the heads of the families or any senior person can provide the family data at the survey centre. The families under survey are required to give details of their ration and Aadhaar cards or voter identity cards of their members.

OBC families having no ration cards may also submit their details at the centres. The people can register their details for the survey online (www.oscbc.odisha.gov.in) free of cost, the official said.