BHOPAL: The row between the state government and the Opposition Congress over newly constituted Backward Class Welfare Commission has taken a new turn as its chairman Gaurishankar Bisen took charge of his office on Saturday in the building of MP State Backward Class Commission that JP Dhanopia is heading.
Chairman of MP State Backward Class Commission, JP Dhanopia has questioned the act of Bisen saying how a commission’s chairman can take charge of his office in another commission’s building. “I will file a contempt petition against Bisen and the state government. It’s not only contempt of the court but cheating also. I am heading the MP State Backward Class Commission. How can someone else enter my office and take charge of another commission. It’s illegal and highly objectionable and this act was committed to create confusion in the minds of people” said Dhanopia, talking to the Free Press. However, talking to Free Press, chairman of OBC Welfare Commission, Gaurishankar Bisen said that he was chairman of the OBC Welfare Commission and not the MP State OBC Commission. “There is a difference of ‘welfare’ between the two commissions,” said Bisen.
“I have assumed the office and have started working. My first priority is to conduct a survey of OBCs in regard to their social, economic and educational status,” Bisen added. JP Dhanopia, appointed by the Congress government, in March 2020, was removed after BJP government took over from Kamal Nath. Dhanopia got stay from the High Court, later. The MP State Backward Class Commission was constituted in 1993 following a direction in the Indira Sawhney case. The commission is governed by the MP Rajya Pichhda Varg Ayog Adhiniyam, 1995.
The gazette notification issued by Shivraj Singh Chouhan government on September 2 states that MP Pichhda Varg Kalyan Ayog (OBC Welfare Commission) is meant to study the social, educational and economic condition of the OBC in state and make recommendations. It has a tenure of two years which could be extended, if required. Though staff of the MP State Backward Class Commission is tight lipped over the development but they are stuck in a situation. “In legal terms we are working for the MP State Backward Class Commission. We haven’t received any orders yet to work for the MP Backward Class Welfare Commission,” said an official requesting anonymity. “The way the current dispensation has created a new body to surpass the High Court order and appointed a chairman is very unfortunate. Dhanopia was not given entry into the office during the BJP government. Now a chairman of ‘another’ commission is sitting in that office,” said Rameshwar Singh, state convener of the OBC Advocates Welfare Association.
