State-level OBC groups must be included in central list

Source: The post is based on an article “State-level OBC groups must be included in the central list” published in the Indian Express on 11^th August 2022.

Syllabus: GS 2 Important Provisions of the Constitution of India

News: The Justice Rohini Commission has been given the 10th extension in five years.

The commission was constituted to ensure equitable distribution of reservation benefits among the OBC castes through sub-categorization

Background

The issue of sub-categorization arises from the perception that a few dominant castes among the OBCs have cornered a disproportionate amount of the benefits from the reservation. It is leading to injustice.

About OBCs reservation

Articles 15(4) and 16(4) make special provisions for socially and educationally backward classes of citizens (SEBCs, popularly known as OBCs), the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs).

Currently, for each state, there are two OBC lists, i.e., one for the state and the Centre. So, a caste included in the OBC list of a state enjoys the reservation benefits in state government jobs and educational institutions, but not with respect to central government jobs or educational institutions.

Historical development of the OBCs reservation

In 1955, the 1st Backward Classes Commission recommended the inclusion of 2,399 castes as OBCs. But, the then central government did not implement the recommendations and implementation of the welfare programs. Therefore, OBC castes have an abysmal representation in central government jobs. But the Centre suggested that state governments may draw up their own lists.

The second Backward Classes Commission, known as the Mandal Commission, gave its report in 1980. However, the central governments did not implement the recommendation for almost a decade.

Finally, the V P Singh government decided to implement the recommendations of the Mandal Commission. Various OBC castes were included in the Central OBC lists. These were those castes and minorities which were common to both the State Lists and the Mandal Commission List.

The central government introduced a reservation of 27% for OBCs in government jobs on August 13, 1990. The constitutional validity of the reservation was upheld in the Indira Sawhney case. Pursuant to judgment, the National Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993 was enacted.

In Ram Singh and Ors vs Union of India Case (2015), the Central government argued that the inclusion of classes or groups in state OBC lists is a strong and compelling reason for the inclusion of such classes in the central lists. Because, in our constitutional scheme, the Union and state governments need to work in tandem and not at cross purposes. The Supreme Court judgment validated this argument.

Issues related to OBCs reservation

OBCs are identified differently at the state and central levels. For example, the State OBC list and Central OBC list. But the SCs and STs are identified “with respect to any State or Union Territory” and have only one list and one status, both at the level of state and central government.

The “two-status” castes deny reservations in all these important avenues like IAS, IPS, IFS, IRS, and coveted educational institutions like the IITs, IIMs, AIIMS, and the Central universities.

Across all the states, there are hundreds of such OBC castes whose members are being denied reservation benefits in central government jobs.

The Way Forward

In order to establish the truth that few dominant castes enjoy the benefits of reservation, a caste census is required. The government should conduct an extensive caste census to give proportional representation to the OBCs.