The Other Backward Class (OBC) is a collective term used by the Government of India to classify communities that are educationally or socially backward. It is one of several official classifications of the population of India, along with general castes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SCs and STs). The OBCs were found to comprise 52% of the country's population by the Mandal Commission report of 1980 and were determined to be 41% in 2006 when the National Sample Survey Organisation took place. [1] [2] [3] There is substantial debate over the exact number of OBCs in India; it is generally estimated to be sizable, but many believe that it is higher than the figures quoted by either the Mandal Commission or the National Sample Survey. [4]
In the Indian Constitution, OBCs are described as socially and educationally backward classes (SEBC), and the Government of India is enjoined to ensure their social and educational development — for example, the OBCs are entitled to 27% reservations in public sector employment and higher education. The list of OBCs maintained by the Indian Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is dynamic, with castes and communities being added or removed depending on social, educational, and economic factors. In a reply to a question in Lok Sabha, Union Minister Jitendra Singh informed that as of January 2016, the percentage of OBCs in central government services is 21.57% and has shown an increasing trend since September 1993. [5] Likewise, in 2015, at educational institutions, funds meant for OBC students under the reservation policy were not used properly or were underused in cases of upgrading infrastructure as well as in violation of faculty recruitment of OBCs according to the 49% reservation policy. [6]
Until 1985, the affairs of the Backward Classes were looked after by the Backward Classes Cell in the Ministry of Home Affairs. A separate Ministry of Welfare was established in 1985 (renamed in 1998 the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment) to attend to matters relating to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and OBCs. [7] The Backward Classes Division of the Ministry looks after the policy, planning, and implementation of programmes relating to social and economic empowerment of OBCs, and matters relating to two institutions set up for the welfare of OBCs, the National Backward Classes Finance and Development Corporation and the National Commission for Backward Classes.
Under Article 340 of the Indian Constitution, the government must promote the welfare of the OBCs.
The president may by order appoint a commission consisting of such persons as he thinks fit to investigate the conditions of socially and educationally backward classes (SEBC) within the territory of India and the difficulties under which they labour and to make recommendations as to the steps that should be taken by the union or any state to remove such difficulties and as to improve their condition and as to the grants that should be made, and the order appointing such commission shall define the procedure to be followed by the commission. ... A commission so appointed shall investigate the matters referred to them and present to the president a report setting out the facts as found by them and making such recommendation as they think proper.
— Article 340 of the Indian Constitution
A 1992 decision of the Supreme Court of India resulted in a requirement that 27% of civil service positions be reserved for members of OBCs. [8] In a reply to a question in Lok Sabha, Union Minister Jitendra Singh informed that as of January 2016, the percentage of OBCs in central government jobs is 21.57%. [5]
There existed a huge disparity among various castes and communities classified as Other Backward Class, even before the implementation of the reservation policy in government jobs and educational institutions, as per the recommendation of the Mandal Commission report. While a major section of Other Backward Castes was extremely backward, there existed a section that owned considerable land and employed Scheduled Castes (SC) as agricultural labourers. In the agitation for implementation of the report of Mandal Commission, Scheduled Castes supported the Other Backward Castes, but after the implementation of these recommendations on the direction of Supreme Court of India, the tension between a section of OBCs and SCs increased. [9]
In some states of North India, the Yadavs, Kurmis, and the Koeris, which were called "upper-OBC", were well off, due to ownership of a sizeable amount of land. [9] The abolition of Zamindari system in post-independence India raised many of the members of these communities to the status of landlords. [10] Following the Green Revolution in India, their landholdings and economic prosperity increased further; they acquired education and became an active participant in government jobs. Further, after the Mandal agitation subsided in North India, OBC leaders gained political power to outnumber the upper caste legislators in most of the north Indian states. This led to the formation of the OBC-led government in many states of North India. They also ended up claiming the high ritual status, which is defined as Sanskritisation . [9]
However, the OBC consolidation in some of the states of north India like Bihar, left many other OBC communities away from the development process. The political and economic prosperity was cornered by the dominant Backward Castes like Koeri, Kurmi and Yadav; this was witnessed in the formation of political blocs in the state after 1995, in which, either side was dominated by these three castes. [11]
Within this section of OBCs called upper-OBC, there also exists disparity in educational attainment and political mobilisation. While the Yadavs were the biggest beneficiary in political achievements, their political progress didn't improve their position in the caste hierarchy and the spread of education among them also remained less as compared to more educationally advanced communities like Awadhia Kurmi, Koeri and Bania. Since the Yadavs were associated with cattle herding in contrast to other upper-OBCs, who were owner cultivators, trespassing into field of landlords and regular struggle with the latter was a challenge for their survival. [12] The mobilisation of Other Backward Class for social-economic ascendancy was not observed at the same pace and in the same manner in different north Indian states. In north India, states like Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh also have substantial populations of Backward Castes, yet, no movement as seen in states like Bihar took place in these states. Many observers have mentioned that in Bihar, the upper OBCs viz. Koeri, Kurmi, and Yadav's political ascendancy went hand in hand with land reforms and peasant movements, benefitting these three castes. These movements changed not only their political position but also their socio-economic profile. However, in the case of Madhya Pradesh, the national political parties like Bharatiya Janata Party and Indian National Congress accommodated the Backward Class in the political structure of the state in a way that socio-political movement of any kind was prevented from taking place. [13]
Adjacent is the distribution of population of each religion by caste categories, obtained from merged sample of Schedule 1 and Schedule 10 of available data from the National Sample Survey Organisation 55th (1999–2000) and National Sample Survey Organisation 61st Rounds (2004–05) Round Survey. [14]
The First Backward Classes Commission was established by a presidential order on 29 January 1953 under the chairmanship of Kaka Kalelkar and submitted its report on 30 March 1955. It had prepared a list of 2,399 backward castes or communities for the entire country, of which 837 had been classified as the "most backward". Some of the most notable recommendations of the Kalelkar Commission were:
The commission in its final report recommended "caste as the criteria" to determine backwardness. However, the report was not accepted by the government, which feared that the backward classes excluded from the caste and communities selected by the commission might not be considered, and those in most need would be swamped by the multitudes, thus receiving insufficient attention.[ citation needed ]
The decision to set up a second backward classes commission was made official by the president on 1 January 1979. The commission is popularly known as the Mandal Commission, its chairman being B. P. Mandal, submitted a report in December 1980 that stated that the population of OBCs, which includes both Hindus and non-Hindus, was around 52 percent of the total population according to the Mandal Commission. The number of backward castes and communities was 3,743 in the initial list of Mandal Commission set up in 1979–80. [15] [16] The number of backward castes in Central list of OBCs has now increased to 5,013 (without the figures for most of the Union Territories) in 2006 as per National Commission for Backward Classes. [17] [18] [19] Mandal Commission developed 11 indicators or criteria to identify OBCs, of which four were economic. [20]
The National Sample Survey puts the figure at 41%. [21] There is substantial debate over the exact number of OBCs in India, with census data compromised by partisan politics. It is generally estimated to be sizable, but higher than the figures quoted by either the Mandal Commission or and National Sample Survey. [22]
Twenty-seven percent of reservations were recommended owing to the legal constraint that the total quantum of reservations should not exceed 50 percent. States that have already introduced reservations for OBC exceeding 27 percent will not be affected by this recommendation. With this general recommendation, the commission proposed the following overall scheme of reservation for OBC:
These recommendations in total apply to all recruitment to public sector undertakings, both under the central and state governments as well as to nationalised banks. All private sector undertakings that have received financial assistance from the government in one form or another should also be obliged to recruit personnel on the aforesaid basis. All universities and affiliated colleges should also be covered by the above scheme of reservation. Although education is considered an important factor in bringing a desired social change, "educational reform" was not within the terms of reference of this commission. To promote literacy the following measures were suggested:
State and Union Territories | 2011 Census population | Aproximate OBC population | % of OBC | No of Central OBC Communities (as of Agaust 2018) |
---|---|---|---|---|
Andaman and Nicobar Islands | 380,581 | 69,000 | 18.1% | 5 |
Andhra Pradesh (including Telengana) | 84,580,777 | 42,629,000 | 50.4% | 190 |
Arunachal Pradesh | 1,383,727 | 39,000 | 2.8% | 0 |
Assam | 31,205,576 | 7,895,000 | 25.3% | 28 |
Bihar | 104,099,452 | 65,166,000 | 62.6% | 132 |
Chandigarh | 1,055,450 | 234,000 | 22.2% | 60 |
Chhattisgarh | 25,545,198 | 11,623,000 | 45.5% | 67 |
Dadra and Nagar Haveli | 343,709 | 15,000 | 4.4% | 10 |
Daman and Diu | 243,247 | 92,000 | 37.8% | 44 |
Goa | 1,458,545 | 261,000 | 17.9% | 17 |
Gujarat | 60,439,692 | 24,297,000 | 40.2% | 105 |
Haryana | 25,351,462 | 7,174,000 | 28.3% | 73 |
Himachal Pradesh | 6,864,602 | 1,174,000 | 17.1% | 52 |
Jammu and Kashmir | 12,541,302 | 1,430,000 | 11.4% | 23 |
Jharkhand | 32,988,134 | 15,438,000 | 46.8% | 134 |
Karnataka | 61,095,297 | 33,908,000 | 55.5% | 199 |
Kerala | 33,406,061 | 21,814,000 | 65.3% | 83 |
Lakshadweep | 64,473 | 450 | 0.7% | 0 |
Madhya Pradesh | 72,626,809 | 30,140,000 | 41.5% | 68 |
Maharashtra | 112,374,333 | 37,983,000 | 33.8% | 256 |
Manipur | 2,855,794 | 1,505,000 | 52.7% | 4 |
Meghalaya | 2,966,889 | 36,000 | 1.2% | 0 |
Mizoram | 1,097,206 | 18,000 | 1.6% | 0 |
Nagaland | 1,978,502 | 4,000 | 0.2% | 0 |
NCT of Delhi | 16,787,941 | 3,274,000 | 19.5% | 56 |
Odisha | 41,974,218 | 13,935,000 | 33.2% | 197 |
Puducherry | 1,247,953 | 962,000 | 77.1% | 58 |
Punjab | 27,743,338 | 4,467,000 | 16.1% | 65 |
Rajasthan | 68,548,437 | 32,423,000 | 47.3% | 69 |
Sikkim | 610,577 | 309,000 | 50.6% | 8 |
Tamil Nadu | 72,147,030 | 54,904,000 | 76.1% | 182 |
Tripura | 3,673,917 | 603,000 | 16.4% | 42 |
Uttar Pradesh | 199,812,341 | 108,898,000 | 54.5% | 76 |
Uttarakhand | 10,086,292 | 1,846,000 | 18.3% | 78 |
West Bengal | 91,276,115 | 7,941,000 | 8.7% | 98 |
India | 1,210,854,977 | 532,776,000 | 44% | 2,479 |
In October 2017, the President of India Ram Nath Kovind notified a five-member Commission headed by Delhi High Court's former Chief Justice G. Rohini under Article 340 of Indian Constitution, [24] [25] to explore the idea of OBC sub-categorisation. [26] [27] [28] The National Commission for Backward Classes had recommended it in 2011 and a standing committee too had repeated this. The committee has a three-point mandate: [29]
The committee will have to deliver the report within 12 weeks of its constitution. [30] The lower OBCs form around 35% of the population in Uttar Pradesh. OBC sub-categorisation has already been implemented at state level by 11 states: West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir region and Haryana, and the union territory of Puducherry. [31] The term of the commission has been extended to 31 May 2019. Its report stated that prime beneficiaries of 97% OBC reservation include Yadav, Kurmi, Jat (Jats of Rajasthan except those of Bharatpur and Dholpur district are in Central OBC list), Saini, Thevar, Ezhava and Vokkaliga castes. [32] After 13 extensions to its tenure, Rohini Commission submitted its report to President Droupadi Murmu on 31 July 2023. [33] The report is more than 1,000-pages long and is divided in two parts- the first part deals with how the OBC quota should be allocated; and the second part is an updated list of all 2,633 OBC castes across India. [34] [35] [36]
The term creamy layer was first coined by Justice Krishna Iyer in 1975 in the State of Kerala vs NM Thomas case, wherein he observed that "the danger of 'reservation', it seems to me, is three-fold. Its benefits, by and large, are snatched away by the top creamy layer of the 'backward' caste or class, thus keeping the weakest among the weak always weak and leaving the fortunate layers to consume the whole cake". [37] [38] 1992 Indra Sawhney & Others v. Union of India judgment laid down the limits of the state's powers: it upheld the ceiling of 50 percent quotas, emphasized the concept of "social backwardness", and prescribed 11 indicators to ascertain backwardness. The nine-judge Bench judgement also established the concept of qualitative exclusion, such as the "creamy layer". [39] [40] [41] The creamy layer is only applicable in the case of Other Backward Castes and not applicable on other groups like SC or ST. The creamy layer criteria were introduced at Rs 100,000 in 1993, and revised to Rs 250,000 in 2004, Rs 450,000 in 2008, and Rs 600,000 in 2013. [42] In October 2015, National Commission for Backward Classes proposed that a person belonging to OBC with an annual family income of up to Rs 1.5 million should be considered as minimum ceiling for OBC. [43] NCBC also recommended sub-division of OBCs into 'backward', 'more backward' and 'extremely backward' blocs and divide 27% quota amongst them in proportion to their population, to ensure that stronger OBCs don't corner the quota benefits. [44] [45] In August 2017, NDA government announced the creamy layer ceiling in the OBC category from getting reservation in jobs, has been raised from Rs 6 lakh a year to Rs 8 lakh. [46]
On 29 March 2007, the Supreme Court of India, as an interim measure, stayed the law providing for 27 percent reservation for Other Backward Classes in educational institutions like IITs and IIMs. This was done in response to a public interest litigation — Ashoka Kumar Thakur vs. Union of India. The Court held that the 1931 census could not be a determinative factor for identifying the OBCs to provide reservation. The court also observed, "Reservation cannot be permanent and appear to perpetuate backwardness". [47]
On 10 April 2008, the Supreme Court of India upheld the government's initiative of 27% OBC quotas in government-funded institutions. The Court has categorically reiterated its prior stand that those considered part of the "Creamy layer" should be excluded by government-funded institutions and by private institutions from the scope of the reservation policy. The verdict produced mixed reactions from supporting and opposing quarters.
Several criteria to identify the portion of the population comprising the "creamy layer" have been recommended, including the following: [48]
In March 2015, Supreme Court of India scrapped Jat Reservations saying that Jats are not socially and economically backward in reference with National Commission for Backward Classes' (NCBC) opinion. [49] [50] [51] [52] Supreme Court judgement quashed the proposed inclusion of Jats in Central list of OBCs on the basis that Jats are already given OBC status in 9 States. [53] On 21 July 2015, Supreme Court rejected Centre's review plea for its verdict of quashing Jat reservation in OBCs. [54]
Lists of OBCs are maintained by both the National Commission for Backward Classes and the individual states. [55] The central list does not always reflect the state lists, which can differ significantly.[ citation needed ] A community identified as a nationally recognized OBC in the NCBC central list may be so recognized only in specific states or only in limited areas within specific states. Occasionally, it is not an entire community that is thus classified but rather some parts within it. [8] [56] As of 2023, Maharashtra has the highest number of OBC castes listed under Central List of OBCs, followed by Odisha, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. [57]
State/UT | Number of castes in Central OBC list |
---|---|
Maharashtra | 261 |
Odisha | 200 |
Karnataka | 199 |
Tamil Nadu | 181 |
Bihar | 136 |
West Bengal | 98 |
Uttar Pradesh | 76 |
All India | 2633 |
The Karnataka State Government has issued notification granting OBC reservation benefits to Brahmin Christian, Kuruba Christian, Madiga Christian, Akkasali Christian, Sudri Christian, Scheduled Caste converted to Christianity, Setty Balija Christian, Nekara Christian, Paravar Christian and Lambani Christian. [58]
The Kerala government grants OBC reservation benefits to Latin Catholics of Kerala, Anglo Indians and Nadar Christians included in South India United Church (SIUC). [59]
The Government of Maharashtra grants OBC reservation benefits to East Indian Catholics. [60]
Arjun Singh was an Indian politician from the Indian National Congress, who served twice as the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh in the 1980s. He also served twice as the Union Minister of Human Resource Development, in the Manmohan Singh and P. V. Narasimha Rao ministries.
The Mandal Commission or the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes Commission (SEBC), was established in India in 1979 by the Janata Party government under Prime Minister Morarji Desai with a mandate to "identify the socially or educationally backward classes" of India. It was headed by B. P. Mandal, an Indian member of parliament, to consider the question of reservations for people to address caste discrimination, and to use eleven social, economic, and educational indicators to determine backwardness. In 1980, based on its rationale that OBCs identified on the basis of caste, social, economic indicators made up 52% of India's population, the commission's report recommended that members of Other Backward Classes (OBC) be granted reservations to 27% of jobs under the central government and public sector undertakings and seats in the higher education institutions, thus making the total number of reservations for SC, ST and OBC to 49.5%.
The Dhangars are caste of people found in the Indian states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Madhya Pradesh. They are referred to as dhangar in southern Maharashtra, Goa and northern Karnataka, Golla in Andhra Pradesh and Kuruba in Karnataka and Gavli Dhangars in northern Maharashtra. Some Gavlis live in forested hill tracts of India's Western Ghats. Gavli, also known as Dange or Mhaske, and ahir are a sub-caste of Dhangar. However, there are many distinct Gavli castes in Maharashtra and Dhangar Gavli is one of them.
Reservation is a system of caste-based affirmative action in India. Based on provisions in the Indian Constitution, it allows the Union Government and the States and Territories of India to set a percentage of reserved quotas or seats, in higher education admissions, employment, political bodies, etc., for "socially and economically backward citizens".
The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) practices affirmative action and offers reservation to the "backward and weaker sections" of the society that includes SC/ST/OBC-NCL/EWS/PWD/Girl candidates.
The 2006 Indian anti-reservation protests were a series of protests that took place in India in 2006 in opposition to the decision of the Union Government of India, led by the Indian National Congress-headed multiparty coalition United Progressive Alliance, to implement reservations for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in central and private institutes of higher education. These protests were one of the two major protests against the Indian reservation system, the other one being the 1990 anti-Mandal protests.
Forward caste is a term used in India to denote castes which are not listed in SC, ST or OBC reservation lists. They are on average considered ahead of other castes economically and educationally. They account for about 30.8% of the population based on Schedule 10 of available data from the National Sample Survey Organisation 55th (1999–2000) and National Sample Survey Organisation 61st Rounds (2004–05) Round Survey.
Ashoka Kumar Thakur v. Union of India is an Indian public interest litigation case challenging the 93rd Constitutional Amendment and the Central Educational Institutions(CEIs) Act, 2006. Reservations for underprivileged persons in public institutions is one of the policies devised by the Indian Legislature to espouse the cause of the disadvantaged.
Creamy layer is a term used in Indian politics to refer to some members of a backward class who are highly advanced socially as well as economically and educationally. They constitute the forward section of that particular backward class – as forward as any other forward class member. They are not eligible for government-sponsored educational and professional benefit programs. The term was introduced by the Sattanathan Commission in 1971, which directed that the "creamy layer" should be excluded from the reservations (quotas) of civil posts. It was also identified later by Justice Ram Nandan Committee in 1993.
Rajasthani people or Rajasthanis are a group of Indo-Aryan peoples native to Rajasthan, a state in Northern India. Their language, Rajasthani, is a part of the western group of Indo-Aryan languages.
Nai, also known as Sain is a generic term for occupational castes of barbers. The name is said to be derived from the Sanskrit word nāpita (नापित). In modern times Nai in northern India refer to themselves as "Sain" instead of Nai.
The Jogi is a Bhramin Hindu community found in North India. Jogi surname is associated with the ancient migrants of the southern Indian states Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala and Gujarat.
Reservation policy in Tamil Nadu is a system of affirmative action that provides historically disadvantaged groups representation in education and employment. Reservations in the state rose from 41 percent in 1954 to 69 percent in 1990.
The National Commission for Backward Classes is an Indian constitutional body under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India established through Constitution Act, 2018 this amendment act in the constitution to make it a constitutional body under Article 338B of the Indian Constitution. It was constituted pursuant to the provisions of the National Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993.
The Jat reservation agitation was a series of violent protests in February 2016 by the Jats of North India, especially those in the state of Haryana, which "paralysed" the state for 10 days. The protestors sought inclusion of their caste in the Other Backward Class (OBC) category, which would make them eligible for affirmative action benefits. Besides Haryana, the protests also spread to the neighbouring states, such as Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and the National Capital Region.
Economically Weaker Section (EWS) in India is a subcategory of people having an annual family income less than ₹8 lakh (US$9,600) and who do not belong to any category such as SC/ST/OBC across India, nor to MBC in Tamil Nadu. A candidate who does not fall under SC/ST/OBC and fulfils the EWS economic criteria are to be part of the EWS category.
Indra Sawhney & Others v. Union of India also known as the Mandal verdict was an Indian landmark public interest litigation case delivered by a 9-judge constitution bench.
Reservation policy in Bihar is a system of affirmative action that provides historically disadvantaged groups representation in education and employment. Reservations in the state rose from 60 percent in 2021 to 75 percent in 2023. In June 2024, Patna High Court struck down the new reservation policy.
The Ninety-third Amendment of the Constitution of India, officially known as The Constitution Act, 2005 enabled the provision of reservation (27%) for Other Backward Class(OBCs) in government as well as private educational institutions.
Therefore, as Witsoe (2013, 41) and Robin (2009, 70) elaborate, after the abolition of the Zamindari system in Bihar, new landlords came from peasant caste backgrounds such as Koeri, Yadav, and Kurmi caste groups. These recently politically ascendant castes could be considered as the new political allies in a power struggle among the upper caste leaders in the Congress.
Sl.No 59