Gadchiroli Jan. 31 (District Correspondent) Rashtriya OBC Mahasangha (ROM) has demanded that the central government should include OBC column in the coming census.
In a memorandum sent to the authorities, the Mahasangha national working president Sheshrao Yelekar has said that the central government had announced to conduct a caste-based census of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes (OBCs). On January 22, 2025, a gazette was issued by the central government, announcing 33 lists related to the census. While Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are mentioned at number 12, there is no mention of OBCs. This has created confusion among the OBC community regarding whether a caste-based census will be conducted for them, and a wave of anger against the government has erupted within the OBC community.
The ROM and other OBC organizations had demanded that a caste census be conducted across the country. In a meeting of the Union Cabinet on May 30, 2025, a decision was taken to conduct a caste-based census in the country. Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had informed the country about this after the Union Cabinet meeting. On June 16, 2025, it was clarified that the census would begin in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand from October 2026, and in the remaining parts of the country from March 2027, pointed out the memorandum.
On January 7, 2026, a gazette regarding the census was issued, and recently, on January 22, 2026, 33 lists for conducting the census were prepared and included in the gazette. These lists include various items such as house number, materials, condition of the house, family number, number of family members, name of the head of the family, their gender, number of married couples, number of rooms in the house, main source of drinking water, availability of drinking water, electricity, toilet, radio, TV, internet, laptop or computer, mobile phone, car, and main food grains, said the memorandum further.
While Scheduled Castes and Tribes are mentioned at number 12, other terms are used for others, and OBCs are not explicitly mentioned. This has created confusion among the OBC community as to whether a census of OBCs will be conducted at all. Gadchiroli district president Dadaji Choudhari, working president Ramkrishna Tajne, vice presidents Pandurang Ghotekar and Prof. Devanand Kamdi, secretary Suresh Bhandekar, treasurer Dr. Suresh Ladke, organizer Chandrakant Shivankar, youth president Rahul Bhandekar, women’s president Mangala Karekar, and others have raised this issue.
