Deshmukh seeks separate OBC column in natl census exercise

Nagpur: The Other Backward Classes (OBC) constitute a significant share of India's population, but they have been consistently deprived of their rights and entitlements, necessitating a separate enumeration, ex-Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh said.The former NCP (Sharad Pawar) MLA extended support to the OBC community's boycott of ongoing census, demanding a separate column for OBCs be included in the enumeration process to ascertain their exact population.Several villagers across Maharashtra are opposing the census exercise due to the absence of an OBC column. In some instances, census officials visiting villages were turned away by locals. Referring to the aggressive stance adopted by citizens, Deshmukh criticised what he described as administrative coercion and urged the Centre and the state to amend the census forms, before the issue escalates .Deshmukh said villagers across the state have taken a justified position. Despite this, officials have been attempting to exert pressure under pretext of mediation, he alleged, warning such high-handedness would not be tolerated in a democracy. TNN