Context:

30 years ago, the government accepted the Mandal Commission’s recommendations and announced that it would implement the reservation scheme – under which 27 percent jobs would be given to members of Other Backward Classes.

A quick history of ‘Reservation’ in India

• The history of reservation for the backward castes goes back to 1902 when ShahuMaharaj, the ruler of the princely state of Kolhapur, reserved 50% of jobs for backward castes (all communities except forwarding groups such as Brahmins, Prabhus, Shenvis, and Parsis).
• Today, reservation is provided in central government posts and services to-
  • Scheduled Castes- 15%
  • Scheduled Tribes- 7.5% ” Other Backward Classes- 27%
  • Economically Weaker Sections- 10%
• The Government recently introduced EWS Reservation. 10% quota is provided for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) among General Category candidates in government jobs and educational institutions.
• This is done by adding clauses for the same in the Indian Constitution (103rd Constitution Amendment Act, 2019).

Major recommendations of the Mandal Commission

• Using 11 indicators – social, educational, and economic – the commission identified 3,743 different castes and communities as members of Other Backward Classes.
• The OBC category, it estimated, comprised 52 percent of the total population.
• Among its key recommendations was a 27 percent reservation in government jobs, schools, and colleges – a quota also applicable to promotions at all levels.
• Meanwhile, the reserved quota that remained vacant was to be carried forward for a period of three years and de-reserved thereafter.
• Many of the OBCs mentioned in the list were the ‘occupation’ castes – Dhobi, Lohar, Teli, etc. The OBC status also varied from region to region.
• While the Banias were on the OBC list in Bihar, they were left off the list in other states; Similarly, Jats were marked OBC only in Rajasthan.

Criticism of the Report

• Outdated base year: it was based on a 1931 census – which was carried out when India was still under British rule.

Mandal’s Recommendations Challenged in Supreme Court

The Court, in its judgment in the case of Indira Sawhney vs Union of India, delivered in 1992, upheld the 27 percent reservation for OBCs subject to the exclusion of socially-advanced persons/ sections (creamy layer) from amongst the OBCs and directed the government to evolve criteria for the identification of this creamy layer.