Bhubaneswar: Opposition BJD Wednesday staged a demonstration outside the Raj Bhavan in Bhubaneswar demanding 27 per cent reservation for students belonging to the Socially and Economically Backward Classes (SEBCs) in Odisha.
A BJD delegation, which included MPs, MLAs and senior leaders, besides students, met Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati and submitted a memorandum seeking his intervention to protect the constitutional rights of the OBCs, who are referred to as SEBCs in Odisha.
The agitators staged the protest rally after the state’s BJP government recently announced 11.25 per cent reservation for students in the SEBC category in higher education, excluding medical, engineering and technical courses.
Both BJD and the Congress are opposing the state government’s decision and demanding 27 per cent quota, instead of 11.25 per cent reservation for the SEBC students in higher education, and inclusion of medical, engineering and technical courses.
The ruling BJP Tuesday stated that 11.25 per cent quota will be extended to SEBC students in medical and engineering courses as well. However, it is yet to be implemented by the state government.
In the memorandum, the BJD sought the governor’s intervention and stated that the measure taken by the BJP government in Odisha was inadequate.
“Reservation has not been extended to medical and engineering colleges in the state. Furthermore, we would like to highlight that while the Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Scheduled Castes (SCs) constitute 22.5 per cent and 16.25 per cent of Odisha’s population respectively, the current reservation in technical, medical, and engineering colleges stands at only 12 per cent for STs and 8 per cent for SCs — totalling merely 20 per cent,” the BJD memorandum pointed out.
“This falls significantly short of the 38.75 per cent combined reservation that should be allocated in proportion to their population,” it said.
The regional party pointed out that the central government and several other states have already implemented 27 per cent reservation for OBCs across educational institutions, including in technical and professional education.
Odisha must follow suit to uphold the principles of equity, social justice and constitutional responsibility, the BJD said.
The BJD’s arguments were criticised by the state government and the ruling BJP.
Odisha’s Higher Education Minister Suryabanshi Suraj accused the regional party of historically opposing the Socially and Economically Backward Classes (SEBCs) in the state. He said the SEBC Act was repealed during the BJD regime.
“The BJD has historically oppressed the SEBC people. They repealed the SEBC Act. The BJD has no moral right to criticise the BJP as the Mohan Charan Majhi government has, for the first time in the state, made a provision for quota for the SEBC students,” the minister told reporters.
The Congress, which has also planned a two-day agitation on Thursday and Friday over the issue, also criticised the BJD for not implementing quota for SEBCs in Odisha even as the party ruled the state for 24 years from 2000 to 2024.
“We welcome the BJD’s protest. But they were in power for 24 years and they could have implemented the quota. However, they did not do it then. Now that they have come out in protest, it shows that they have admitted their mistake and are apologetic. So, we support their stance,” OPCC president Bhakta Charan Das said.
Odisha BJP president Manmohan Samal, however, explained that the state government reserved 11.25 per cent of seats for SEBC students instead of 27 per cent because of a Supreme Court ruling fixing the upper limit of caste-based reservations to 50 per cent.
PTI
