{
  "id": 12744360,
  "title": "Do backward classes have political representation? Odisha panel to find out",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/08/do-backward-classes-have-political-representation-odisha-panel-to",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-08T00:00:59.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Indian Express",
    "slug": "the-indian-express",
    "url": "https://indianexpress.com/article/india/odisha-sebc-commission-backward-class-reservation-local-body-polls-10911430/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Odisha government has formed a commission to investigate the political representation of socially and educationally backward classes (SEBC) in local self-government institutions. The commission, led by retired High Court judge Pramath Patnaik, aims to assess the political representation of these classes, which make up a significant portion of Odisha's population. The commission will study the proportion of SEBCs in both rural and urban areas and their representation in local government bodies. The study will help the government determine measures to ensure adequate representation of backward classes in local self-government institutions. This initiative comes ahead of upcoming panchayat and urban local body elections, as well as amid growing demands from opposition parties for increased reservation for SEBCs. While SEBCs constitute around 54% of the state's population, they currently enjoy only 11.25% reservation in state government jobs.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "The Hindu",
        "title": "Odisha govt. forms panel to study SEBC political backwardness",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/07/odisha-govt-forms-panel-to-study-sebc-political-backwardness",
        "published": "2026-10-07T19:53:31.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "The Indian Express - India",
        "title": "Do backward classes have political representation? Odisha panel to find out",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/08/do-backward-classes-have-political-representation-odisha-panel-to-12746758",
        "published": "2026-10-08T00:00:59.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}