Congress demands reservation for OBC in Orissa

Bhubaneswar,Apr 21 (UNI) All India Congress Committee(AICC) OBC cell Chairman K C Lenka today threatened to launch statewide agitation demanding 27 per cent reservation for the other backward class(OBC) in educational institutions in Orissa.

Talking to newsmen here,Mr.Lenka said though the OBC constituted nearly 55 per cent of the total population in Orissa yet the ruling BJD-BJP in the state had 'failed' to appoint any Chairman for the OBC Commission which has been lying defunct.

He said the Congress would be forced to take to the street if the government failed to implement the reservation for the OBC in the educational institutions.

The OBC Cell of the Orissa Pradesh Congress Committee had submitted a memorandum to OBC National Commission member B Babu Rao Verma during his visit to the state urging him to include several socially and educationally backward communities as OBC.

Mr.Lenka alleged that the state government had also failed to constitute a separate Financial Corporation for OBC though the OBC comprised a major population in the state.

He said Mr Rao Verma had been urged to issue necessary instruction to the Orissa government to set up a separate Financial Corporation for the OBC and declare several other communities as OBC considering their social and educational backwardness.

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