NEW DELHI: After Bihar and Maharashtra assemblies passed resolutions demanding that the Centre conduct an OBC census , BJP MP Ganesh Singh on Friday took the demand to Lok Sabha by arguing that a headcount of the backward castes was required for better policy implementation.The debate on annual budget of Union social justice ministry also witnessed strong arguments on "creamy layer" that the government is mulling to tweak in the light of the report of the BP Sharma expert committee, as reported by TOI.As the lead speaker of the debate, Singh asked why could a census of OBCs not be done, citing instances from the past when it was demanded by various bodies and accused previous Congress governments of turning them down. "What is wrong with OBC census? OBC is a class like religion, SCs, STs," he argued. The MP said the Centre has constituted the Rohini Commission for "sub-categorisation of OBCs" and how could the exercise be completed without an estimate of the backward population.The strong advocacy of the controversial exercise comes when the Centre has virtually junked the move after promising it in August 2018. The then Home Minister Rajnath Singh had announced that 2021 census will enumerate the OBCs but the new Modi government has decided against it.The demand by Ganesh Singh was later backed by other speakers including BJP’s Pritam Gopinath Munde and Amol Kolhe of NCP.With social justice minister Thaawarchand Gehlot present, the chamber saw criticism of “creamy layer”, again led by BJP’s Singh who said the exclusionary principle for availing quotas should be abandoned till backlog in quota vacancies is wiped out. He cited the travails of 56 candidates who qualified for the civil services but were not appointed.The strongest comment came from T Sumathy of DMK who lashed out at the committee whose recommendations are being considered for revamping the creamy layer criteria. “It is unfortunate that no OBC formed part of the committee,” she said, without naming the Sharma panel. It is to be noted that while one panel member was OBC, she stayed away from the committee’s deliberations.