New Delhi: In a politically significant demand, the Union home ministry has said that the government plans to collect data on Other Backwards Classes (OBCs) for the first time in the Census 2021. This has been a demand from the OBC leaders for long. It comes ahead of elections in key states later this year and the parliamentary polls next year making it significant.

India has been collecting data on Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) since 1951, when the first census after Independence was conducted, but has not collected data on OBCs. After home minister Rajnath Singh reviewed preparations for Census 2021 on Friday, a home ministry spokesperson said, “It is envisaged to collect data on OBCs for the first time.”

BJP national general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Bhupender Yadav termed the move a futuristic step taken by the BJP government, which he said was committed to social justice. “It is a good step...Poverty alleviation is the main agenda of this government, and social and economic inclusion rank high on the priority. We will go for development without any social tension,” he said.

In Parliament’s monsoon session, issues related to OBCs assumed political significance as a bill to grant constitutional status to the National Commission of Backward Classes on par with the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes was passed in the House. This came soon after another decision that strengthened an act that acts on crimes against people from the SCs and STs.

In 1990, the VP Singh government announced 27% reservation for OBCs based on the Mandal Commission recommendation, which was broadly based on data collected in the 1931 census.