http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1834680,00130222.htm

Experts have doubts about OBC survey methodology

Chetan Chauhan and Saroj Nagi

New Delhi, November 2, 2006



The Government will study the National Sample Survey Organisation's
(NSSO) findings that the OBC population has increased by over five per
cent between 1999 and 2005 — though it is 11 per cent less than the
Mandal Commission's estimation of 52 per cent — before submitting its
view in Supreme Court on the reservation issue.

Caught in a controversy over the methodology it adopted to calculate
the OBC population, the NSSO will shortly make a presentation to the
Social Welfare Ministry and Planning Commission , which are examining
its report.

"The sample size (1.25 lakh households) is too small to reach a
population figure," a ministry official said. But an NSSO functionary
contested this, claiming the survey was conducted on "proven
scientific" lines. "Our figures on most counts have always been very
close to Census figures," he said. Unlike the Census, which
cross-verifies claims, the NSSO goes by voluntary declaration of
families in the sample area. "If somebody tells us he is an SC or OBC,
we believe the person," an NSSO official said.

According to Professor Yogendra Singh of Jawaharlal Nehru Univesity,
the methodology can lead to some error, as in the wake of reservation
for OBCs, many respondents may have enlisted themselves in this
category. The inclusion of caste groups like Jats by the government
has also inflated figures — a point also made by political scientist
C.P. Bhambri, who saw communities joining the OBC bandwagon to project
themselves as a "political category".

But the NSSO's findings are unlikely to change the contours of the
ongoing debate about creamy layer and OBC quota in central educational
institutions.

"The OBCs are like Trishanku; neither the Constitution nor society
protects them… They have been deprived of equal opportunities," said
B.K. Hari Prasad, an OBC leader and Congress MP in the Rajya Sabha. He
says that in villages, OBCs are not allowed to enter temples though
they may follow the rituals of caste Hindus.

The pro-quota lobby is not deterred by the NSSO findings that the
purchasing power of OBCs is almost at par with forward castes in rural
areas. This is because, as Bhambri said, OBCs have in recent years
captured political and economic power. "What they presently lack is
bureaucratic power. They hope to get this through education," he said,
looking at the OBC debate through the prism of power politics. He also
underlined the need to to "demystify" the findings regarding OBCs'
economic status in rural areas

Comprising a broad spectrum of over 4,000 castes that lie between
Dalits and upper castes, only a small upper crust of OBCs has gained
from land reforms.  To allow the marginalized sections to benefit from
affirmative action, Singh wants the creamy layer out of the quota
regime. But neither sociologist Dipankar Gupta nor Bhambri see the
most backwards among OBCs setting up a separate category. "They don't
have a leader. They are chained to the OBCs due to the power game
based on identity politics," they said.

Social scientist Pushpesh Pant believes OBCs do not require
reservation.  "They do not suffer from social, economic or educational
discrimination. Unlike Dalits, who were not allowed entry into
schools, OBCs chose not to educate themselves."

Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]



--
Subscribe to ZESTCaste by sending a BLANK email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] OR, if you 
have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join 
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/

<*> Your email settings:
    Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/join
    (Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
    mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] 
    mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
    [EMAIL PROTECTED]

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
 

Reply via email to