OBC sub-categorisation panel’s report in ‘final stages’

After more than five years of formation, the ‘commission for the sub-categorisation of the Other Backward Classes (OBC)’ is now in the final stages of finishing its task of coming up with a categorisation to further classify the nearly 3,000 caste groups within OBC.

Evolution of OBC status in India:

• The Kalelkar Commission, set up in 1953, was the first to identify backward classes other than the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) at the national level.
• The Mandal Commission Report, 1980 estimated the OBC population at 52% and classified 1,257 communities as backward.
  • It recommended increasing the existing quotas, which were only for SC/ST, from 22.5% to 49.5% to include the OBCs.

Constitutional Backing for OBC reservation:

• The central government reserved 27% of seats in union civil posts and services for OBCs [Article 16(4)].
  • The quotas were subsequently enforced in central government educational institutions [Article 15 (4)].
• In 2008, the Supreme Court directed the central government to exclude the creamy layer (advanced sections) among the OBCs.
• The 102nd Constitution Amendment Act, of 2018 provided constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC), which was previously a statutory body under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

About the Commission:

• The commission was set up on 2nd October 2017 under Article 340 of the Constitution.
• It was tasked with sub-categorisation of the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and equitable distribution of benefits reserved for them.
• It was a five-member commission, headed by Justice G. Rohini (retd).
• It was initially given 12 weeks to submit its report to the President of India.
• Since then, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has extended the deadline more than 10 times.
• The distribution of quota for caste groups within OBC is being done remaining under 27% of quota for the OBC share holistically.

For what reason commission is making its Classification:

• To examine the uneven distribution of reservation benefits among different castes in the central OBC list.
• To work out the mechanism, criteria, norms, and parameters in a scientific approach for sub-categorisation within such OBCs.
• To take up the exercise of identifying the respective castes/communities/sub-castes/synonyms for comprehensive data coverage.
• To study and recommend correction of any repetitions, ambiguities, inconsistencies, and errors of spelling or transcription.

Recommendations by the Committee:

• Since the final recommendations have not been disclosed by the committee till now but have been released a few last years.
  • It has met representatives of state governments, state backward classes’ commissions, and community In 2021, the commission proposed to divide OBCs into four subcategories numbered 1, 2, 3, and 4 and split the 27% into 2, 6, 9, and 10%,
  • It also recommended the complete digitization of all OBC records and a standardised system of issuing OBC certificates.