The much-awaited survey of the other backward classes (OBCs) across Odisha will commence on May 1 and continue till May 27, an official notification said on Thursday.
The social and educational conditions of 208 OBC communities enlisted by the state government will be collected during the survey, which will be followed by a special drive to ensure that none were left out across the state, an official said.
Odisha is the second state in the country after Bihar to hold the OBC survey.
The survey will be carried out by the Odisha State Commission for Backward Classes in all 314 blocks and 114 civic bodies areas in the state, an official said.
The objective of the survey is to get a picture of the present social and educational conditions of the people belonging to backward classes in Odisha, he said.
The state government in its notification said the survey will be carried out under the powers conferred by section 9 of the Odisha State Commission for Backward Classes (OSCBC) Act, 1993 and OSCBC (Amendment) Act, 2020.
According to the provisions of the two Acts, the heads of the families or any senior person can provide the family data at the survey center.
The families under survey require to give details of their ration and Aadhar cards or voter identity cards of their members.
OBC families having no ration cards may also submit their details at the survey centers.
The people can also register their details for the survey online (www.oscbc.odisha.gov.in) free of cost, the official said.
This apart, the people can also register their details at Mo Seva Kendra' by making the requisite payment, he said.
Meanwhile, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress have said that the state government's move for the survey ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha and the Odisha assembly election is aimed at creating an OBC vote bank.
BJP OBC Morcha president Surath Biswal in a press conference on Thursday voiced suspicion about the state government's mode of conducting the survey, which, he said, could be a ploy to dilute the enumeration process.
"The OBC survey should be done on a door-to-door basis instead of opening survey centers. Many poor people may not be able to come to survey centers due to lack of awareness," he said.
Biswal demanded that the state government provide 27 per cent quota to OBCs in education and jobs as in other states.
The ruling Biju Janata Dal on the other hand maintained that the survey will be conducted to make policies more effective, ensure the socio-economic development of the backward classes and improve their social and educational conditions.
"There is no politics behind the survey. It is purely for the welfare of OBCs," said Debi Prasad Mishra, a BJD lawmaker said.
