The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the setting up of a panel to examine the sub-categorisation of Other Backward Classes (OBCs), in a move that might have huge political ramifications for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Cabinet also announced raising of the ceiling for the creamy layer, from the annual income of Rs 6 lakh to Rs 8 lakh.
The committee’s commendations, to be submitted within 12 weeks of appointment of a Chairperson, could lead to quota within the quota. Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Thaawarchand Gehlot said that while there are over 10,000 OBC sub-castes in the central and the state lists, there has never been a census of the OBCs, unlike the SC/ST community.
“There is a central list of OBCs, and a state list as well, but there has been no data on the community since 1931. The last UPA government had initiated a Socio-Economic and Caste Census, which was completed and submitted in 2015. The Ministry of Home Affairs is yet to disclose the findings,” Gehlot said.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the committee will examine the “extent of inequitable distribution of benefits of reservation” among the OBC castes and communities. “The government has taken this step to ensure that benefits of reservation reach all backward classes, especially those who have been unable to reap the benefits till now,” he said.
Earlier this year, the Modi government had tried to grant constitutional status to the National Backward Classes Commission through a Constitution Amendment Bill — the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) Bill. But as the BJP was short of numbers in the Rajya Sabha treasury benches, it was left red-faced when the Opposition forced the dropping of Clause 3 from the Bill.
BJP President Amit Shah said this step taken by the government was a proof that the party was sensitive to the needs of the poor. “We are determined to achieve complete development of backward and other social communities. I am sure that the Modi government will soon get this law passed in the Parliament and get the panel constitutional status so that the backward castes in the back of the development queue can also progress,” he said.
States including Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Puducherry, Karnataka, Haryana, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Bihar, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu have already sub-categorised OBCs. At present, OBCs enjoy over 27 per cent seats in government jobs and state-run educational institutions, after the implementation of Mandal Commission recommendations.
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