OBC leaders welcome Caste-Based Census; Call it a step towards social justice
Ferozepur, May 3, 2025: Leaders and organisations representing the Other Backwards Classes (OBC) have welcomed the Central Government’s recent decision to conduct a nationwide caste-based census, calling it a historic and much-needed move towards ensuring justice and equal rights for the backwards communities.
For years, organisations such as the International Sarva Kamboj Samaj (Regd.) and the Shaheed Udham Singh Memorial Committee (Regd.), Ferozepur, have been demanding a caste-based census and the implementation of the Mandal Commission report. They had submitted memoranda to the Government of India, the National Commission for Backwards Classes, and various political leaders to press their demands.
Iqbal Chand Kamboj, popularly known as Pala Batti and National President of the International Sarva Kamboj Samaj, said, “The caste-based census will finally bring out the real demographic and socio-economic picture of the OBC community. It will help ensure our long-pending demands for fair representation in education, employment, and promotions are fulfilled.”
Echoing this sentiment, Bhagwan Singh Sama Nurpur, President of the Shaheed Udham Singh Memorial Committee, said that the socially, economically, and politically marginalised OBC communities would now get their due recognition and rights.
Jaspal Handa, Chief Advisor to the International Sarva Kamboj Samaj, emphasized that the data emerging from the census would enable the government to frame more effective policies for the upliftment of backward classes. He also hinted that this development could potentially challenge the current 50% ceiling on reservations.
Advocate Baljit Singh recalled that last year, a massive Kamboj community conference held at Golu Ka Morh had drawn thousands of participants. The conference unanimously passed resolutions demanding a caste-based census, immediate implementation of the Mandal Commission recommendations, and retention of the Kamboj caste in the list of backwards classes. He noted that several other backward class organizations had supported these resolutions.
Speakers also pointed out that while the first caste-based census was held in 1881 and the last in 1941, the latter’s data was never released due to World War II. Since independence, India has conducted a census every decade, but it only includes data on Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, while OBCs have been consistently excluded.
Also present during the meeting were Jasbir Singh (Excise Department), Parminder Handa, Jasbir Josan, Randeep Handa, Sarabjit Singh Bhawra, Sukhdev Batti, Harbans Lal Pappu (Sarpanch), among others.