Congress MP Geni Thakor

Congress MP Geni Thakor from Banaskantha has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding the division of OBC reservations into two parts to address what she describes as “significant inequalities” in the distribution of benefits.

She says in the letter that the existing 27% reservation quota for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) be divided into two parts for a better representation of all castes under the category in Gujarat.

In her letter, Thakor emphasizes that while there are 23 communities within the OBC category, 5 to 10 of them are reaping 90% of the benefits despite already being prosperous.

Thakor called for a survey to assess the progress made for the most backward communities in the last 20 years, stressing that many communities have remained underdeveloped since India’s Independence.

The Congress MP further proposed that communities like the Thakor and Koli groups should also receive reservation benefits. She suggested allocating 20% of the reservation to those communities that have not yet received significant advantages and reducing the reservation to 7% for communities that have already benefited.

There are 142 officially recognized OBC communities in Gujarat, including the Kayasths. In 2007, the Kayasth community across eight districts such as Bharuch, Surat, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Navsari, Tapi, Narmada, and Valsad, was surveyed by the OBC Commission and subsequently included in the state’s OBC list. The total population of the Kayasth community in these districts is estimated to be around 6,000.

Thakor clarified to the media that her request to “divide the reservation into 20% and 7% was not based on strict percentages but aimed at ensuring greater benefit for underprivileged communities while reducing benefits for those who have already received them.”

(This story was taken from a syndicated feed, and edited only for style by Gujarat Samachar Digital staff)