The Government today informed Rajya Sabha that state governments and Union Territory administrations have been asked to determine the number of OBCs and those among them living below the poverty line.

In a written reply, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Subulakshmi Jagdeesan said data on OBCs would be useful in formulating schemes for their welfare. She made it clear that the Government had no proposal for census of other castes.

The Government, meanwhile, was directed by the Supreme Court today to place within six weeks the report of the Parliamentary Standing Committee which examined the scope of the Bill providing 27 per cent quota to OBCs in elite educational institutions.

The bench of Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice S H Kapadia passed an order to this effect after Additional Solicitor General Gopal Subramanian said that the Standing Committe’s report was placed before Parliament on December 1 and he needed some time to place the copy of the report.

And on the issue of quota, the National Commission for Minorities (NCM) has set up a one-man study team to go into the ‘caste disability’ factor among Muslims and Christians. Dr Satish Deshpande, sociology professor at the Delhi School of Economics, will essentially assess ‘‘whether it is caste or religion that is functional among Muslims and Christians.’’

The assessment being planned by the NCM is significant as there is already a debate on whether Dalit Muslims and Christians should be included in the reservation for SC/STs. After the 1952 Presidential order, reservation for SC/STs excluded Dalit Muslims and Christians.

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