Almost 16mn Commercial Units Owned by OBC's

The other backward classes (OBCs), who have been granted 27 percent quota in government jobs and educational institutions for being socially and economically backward, own 15.92 million entrepreneurial units, says the official Economic Census for 2005, released Thursday.

People from the Scheduled Castes (SCs), another marginalised section of society with 15 percent reservation in government jobs and colleges, own 3.69 million units, while those from Scheduled Tribes (STs) run 1.52 million units, according to the 2005 data.

The Economic Census released here by the Central Statistical Organisation (CSO) of the statistics and programme implementation ministry said as many as 41.82 million establishments were in operation in 2005.

Out of a total of 6.08 million establishments in the farm sector, the share of OBCs was 2.81 million or 46.24 percent, while that of SCs was 0.61 million or 10.08 percent. STs accounted for only 0.38 million or 6.32 percent.

'Over 93 percent of these units owned by OBCs, SCs, and STs were in rural areas,' said S.K. Nath, director general of CSO, which conducted the Economic Census that gives not only an insight into India's economy but also intends to meet the requirements of planners, policy makers and researchers.

The census says that 100.9 million people were employed in 41.83 million establishments in India in 2005, out of which 25.54 million units were in rural areas and 16.29 million in urban areas.

Five states accounting for about 50 percent of total employment in organised and unorganised sectors were Andhra Pradesh (11.20 million), Maharashtra (11.31 million), Tamil Nadu (10.06 million), Uttar Pradesh (8.15 million) and West Bengal (10.03 million).