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.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Centre clears caste in Census 2011



Standalone exercise in June-September next
New Delhi: A focussed, stand-alone, house-to-house caste headcount will be conducted between June and September 2011, after the National Population Register (NPR) is ready.
This decision comes after five months of wrangling among political parties, first over whether to undertake caste enumeration or not, and then over the method of doing it.
The Union Cabinet, after considering the recommendations of the Group of Ministers headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, gave its approval on Thursday, paving the way for inclusion of caste in Census 2011.
“After considering various options, the option that we have approved is based on the responses of various political parties: that caste must be canvassed and the integrity of the headcount must not be affected,” Home Minister P. Chidambaram told journalists. Every point of view was “accommodated and the time table drawn up.”
As for the additional cost for the exercise, he said it would be “assessed” at a separate meeting.
Mr. Chidambaram, however, parried a question whether caste enumeration would be merged with the headcount.
Doing so could be contentious, as there are two views on this: those who favour the merger say that correlating the caste identities of people with their educational and economic status will help to map the population better, thus facilitating a more accurate targeting of welfare schemes. But those who oppose it fear that making such connections might lead to a demand for larger quotas.
Sources in the government said this would be a “focussed exercise.” They stressed that the enumerators would be working on a verified data base — the NPR — and so the integrity of the data would be maintained. Those being enumerated would be asked to name their caste, but they would have the option of saying “No caste,” said the sources. Later, the raw data collected would be analysed by an expert group, set up by the Centre.
The Office of the Registrar-General and Census Commissioner would be “legally empowered” to collect caste data by putting in place a suitable legal regime.
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