History of OBC Reservation

Under Article 340 of the Indian constitution it is obligatory for the government to promote the welfare of the Other Backward Classes.

The first Backward Classes Commission headed by Shri kaka kalelkar in 1953, and Mandal Commission headed by Shri B.P.Mandal in 1980 has given many useful recommendations for the welfare of Other Backward Classes. The population of OBC’s which includes Hindus and Non-Hindus was around 52% of the total population according to the commission.

27% of reservation was recommended owing to legal constraints that the total quantum of reservation should not exceed 50%.

One of the most important recommendations is that all private sector undertakings which have received financial assistance from the government in one form or another should be obliged to recruit personnel on the reservation basis. But, even after 2 decades we are unable to get it inspite of our continuous efforts.

On August 7 1990, the then Prime Minister Shri. V P Singh announced that his National Front Government was going to implement Mandal Commission recommendations in Education and jobs, inspite of strong agitations from Forward Communities. In fact, Shri V P Singh lost his power due to his mandalisation policy. The federation remembers him on this special day for his service rendered to this community.

One needs to understand the psychology of opposition of reservation to OBC’s.

When the jobs are nowhere and everything is gone private, then why are the upper castes angry with the reservation for Backward Communities?

The fact is that seats for dalits were rarely fulfilled and we have seen huge backlog. There has been no protest. It was easier to curtail the protest of the dalits because of their numbers and social background.

Now the reservation for backward communities being a reality, the powerful backward communities will hit and break the bone of upper castes. That is the fear of this community. They know that there are enough students from these communities who will join great institutes of technology and management.

The Supreme Court of India on April 10 2008 upheld the government’s move for initiating 27% OBC quotas in Govt. funded Institutions. But it is necessary for the Govt. at this juncture to exclude the creamy layer policy from the reservation quota.

To be strong in the present scenario, it is more important to show our strength and unity of OBC’s. AIOBC association work towards social justice. AIOBC is giving hand and helping us in this regard.

The issue of under-representation of the socio-economically deprived, discriminated backward caste and classes in the spheres of education, employment, administration and commerce is burning at this stage. I appeal all the member associations to work hard towards the success of the reservation policies.

Let us truly reform our society and work for a truly democratic India, where every community participates in power and every person gets their reservation in respective areas in proportion to their shares in population.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Govt Mulls Reservation for Muslims Through OBC Route

Government is actively considering reservation for Muslims through the Other Backward Castes (OBC) route, Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid has said.

"We are actively looking at the reservation issue. We have a commitment in our (Congress) manifesto. I am pushing for it all the time ....Congress leadership is committed to the issue and there is no shred of doubt about it," he told PTI in an interview here.

Khurshid was replying to questions on whether the government is ready to implement the recommendations of the Ranganath Mishra Commission for reservation to Minorities.

The Commission, whose report was tabled in Parliament in December last year, had recommended 10 per cent reservation for Muslims and five per cent for other minorities in government jobs.

The Commission had also suggested an alternative route for reservation to minorities if there is "insurmountable difficulty" in implementing the recommendation for 15 per cent reservation.

According to the Mandal Commission report, minorities constitute 8.4 per cent of the total OBC population. So in the 27 per cent OBC quota, an 8.4 per cent sub quota should be earmarked for minorities of which 6 per cent should be for Muslims.

"They (Mishra Commission) are saying either do it as 15 per cent or as share of 27 per cent. We are moving on the second option," Khurshid said, adding that this option was also recommended by the Sachar Committee, which looked into the issue of the backwardness of Muslims.

Asked whether the UPA is ruling out the first option of giving 15 per cent reservation to minorities as a while, Khurshid said, "Not ruling out the first option, we are moving on the second option."

The Minority Affairs Minister said that though his ministry is not the one to decide over the issue, he was in constant touch with the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment as they they are the ones who have to do it.

"I am obviously involved in the conceptualisation of this," he said.

Congress President Sonia Gandhi had reportedly assured a delegation of Muslim leaders in May this year that modalities for providing reservation to Muslims would be worked out in six months.

The party is learnt to be in favour of providing reservations to minorities on the lines of the quota structure that is already in place in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Tamil Nadu has 3.5 per cent reservation for Muslims within 27 per cent quota for backward castes, while Congress ruled Andhra Pradesh has given 4 per cent reservation to Muslims, which was also upheld by the Supreme Court.
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