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Polity & Governance
Mahesh

20/10/23 05:17 AM IST

OBCs and subcategories

In News
  • The Minister for Backward Classes Welfare in Andhra Pradesh said recently that the state will begin a backward classes census from November 15.
  • The publication of the results of the caste survey in Bihar earlier this month had raised the possibility that other states too would announce similar exercises as the country enters a new cycle of elections.
OBCs
  • The expression ‘OBC’ was coined to denote backward/ marginalised communities and castes that were not Scheduled Castes (SCs) or Scheduled Tribes (STs).
  • It is recognised that social backwardness in India has traditionally been a direct consequence of caste status, and that other types of backwardness have flowed from this initial handicap.
  • Affirmative action for OBCs is mandated by Article 15(4) of the Constitution: “Nothing in this article or in clause (2) of Article 29 [non-discrimination with regard to admission into state educational institutions on grounds of religion, caste, etc] shall prevent the State from making any special provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens…”.
  • Article 16(4) allows the state to make “any provision for the reservation of appointments or posts in favour of any backward class of citizens which, in the opinion of the State, is not adequately represented in the services under the State”.
Criteria
  • OBCs have been generally identified on the basis of their occupation: cultivation of own land, tenant farming, agriculture labour, cultivation and selling of vegetables, fruits and flowers, cattle-rearing, washing of clothes, carpentry, blacksmith, oilseeds crushing, pottery, stone-cutting, etc.
  • The many castes among the OBCs are at different levels of marginalisation.
  • At first glance, two broad categories within the OBCs emerge: those who own land (such as the Yadavs and Kurmis in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh), and those who do not.
FIRST OBC COMMISSION
  • The panel, headed by Kaka Kalelkar, was constituted by Jawaharlal Nehru’s government on January 29, 1953, and submitted its report on March 30, 1955.
  • To identify socially and educationally backward classes, the commission adopted the following criteria: low social position in the traditional caste hierarchy of Hindu society; lack of general educational advancement among the major section of the caste/ community; inadequate or no representation in government service; and inadequate representation in trade, commerce and industry.
  • The First OBC Commission prepared a list of 2,399 backward castes or communities in the country, categorised 837 of them as “most backward”.
  • The Commission also recommended enumerating castes in the 1961 census, providing 25-40% reservation at different levels of government jobs, and 70% reservation for admission to technical and professional institutions.
SECOND OBC COMMISSION
  • This was the B P Mandal Commission, which was appointed in 1979 by Morarji Desai’s Janata government, but the implementation of which was announced only in 1990 by the government of V P Singh.
  • The Mandal Commission identified 3,743 castes and communities as OBCs, estimated their population at 52%, and recommended 27% reservation in government jobs and admissions to all government-run scientific, technical, and professional institutions.
  • No subcategories were recognised within the 27% OBC quota.
Subcategories in States
  • In Karnataka, 207 OBCs castes are divided into five sub-groups.
  • Jharkhand has two groups: Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs) and Backward Classes.
  • West Bengal’s 143 OBC castes are divided into More Backwards and Backwards.
  • In Maharashtra, the 21% OBC reservation is shared by the Special Backward Category (2%) and Other Backward Classes (19%).
  • In Tamil Nadu, the 50% OBC quota is divided among Backward Classes (26.5%), Backward Class Muslims (3.5%), and Most Backward Classes/Denotified Community (20%).
  • In Kerala, 40% OBC reservation is divided into eight subgroups, including Ezhava/Thiyya/Billava (14%), and Muslims (12%).
Source- Indian Express

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