Rajasthan Cong chief urges state govt to conduct survey of OBC families in credible manner

Jaipur, Jul 10 (PTI) Rajasthan Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra on Friday urged the BJP-led state government to ensure that the survey of Other Backward Classes (OBC) families is conducted in a credible and responsible manner. The Rajasthan State Other Backward Classes Commission has begun a statewide digital survey of OBC families to collect updated data on their social, educational, economic, demographic and political representation in urban local bodies and panchayati raj institutions. Dotasra raised objections to the survey process and alleged that the "Rajdhara Survey" mobile application had disabled the option meant for government-appointed enumerators and retained only the "citizen" option. He claimed that had government-appointed booth-level agents and enumerators been allowed to upload data through their official IDs, the information would have carried official accountability. "Instead, any individual can now submit information through the citizen interface which raises questions over the authenticity and verifiability of the data," he said. Dotasra alleged that the information collected through such a process could not be considered legally valid or authenticated and termed it an attempt to undermine the interests of the OBC community. He demanded that the government conduct the survey in a transparent and accountable manner to generate authentic data and asserted that any move detrimental to the interests of the OBC community would not be tolerated. The Congress leader also urged the government to determine reservations for OBCs on the basis of verified data and announce elections to urban local bodies and panchayati raj institutions without further delay. The digital survey, being carried out through the Rajdhara Survey mobile application from July 10 to July 23, aims to gather updated factual data on the community to enable the commission to make scientific and legally sustainable recommendations to the state government. The OBC Commission's report will pave the way for panchayati raj and urban local bodies elections as the reservation for OBCs in the panchayati raj and urban local bodies elections will be determined on the basis of the survey report. PTI SDA KSS KSS