A Resolution passed to request the Centre for the 2011 Census Data

A resolution was passed requesting the Centre to lay out the 2011 census data to permit the State Backward Class Commission to draw up factual data of the OBC population by the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on Monday. The State Food and Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal moved the resolution and was passed by a voice vote in the middle of the chaos by members of the opposition BJP. The House noticed two adjournments in this matter. 

 

The Bharatiya Janata Party members marched into the well of the House and yelled slogans in opposition to the state government. The Former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis states that the decision was politically prompted and will serve no purpose. The Former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that it was asked by the top court to the Backward Class Commission to supervise factual inquiry to find out political backwardness of the Other Backward Classes (OBCs). He also blamed the state government for not doing anything on what the high court had told of. “Eight crore errors were identified in the 2011 census data, while Maharashtra had 69 lakhs, the main reason why it wasn’t given,” said the former Chief Minister of Maharashtra. 

 

In response to this, the State Food and Civil Supplies Minister Chhagan Bhujbal said “if the mistakes were detected then why there were no corrections made in the data? Why were people just looking at those figures for six long years? If the data can be used for central schemes like Ujjwala Gas, then why not for OBC? The 2021 census is yet to be conducted and has been a pause due to the ongoing situation of the pandemic, how is the state government supposed to perform an inquiry for the OBC population?” “The top court did not ask for any census data. The resolution is just a waste of time, and the result will be nothing. But we are going to support it as we are with the OBC’s” stated Former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and BJP Leader.