Other Backward Classes
Other Backward Classes — reservation, sub-categorisation
What are Other Backward Classes?
Other Backward Classes are the socially and educationally backward classes recognised under Articles 15(4) and 16(4), administratively those backward classes that are neither Scheduled Castes nor Scheduled Tribes. The Mandal Commission's 27 percent central quota was upheld in Indra Sawhney (1992), which also fixed a 50 percent ceiling and the creamy-layer exclusion, now set at ₹8 lakh of annual family income.
Story hook
It is 7 August 1990. Prime Minister V.P. Singh rises in Parliament to announce that his government will implement the Mandal Commission Report — 27% reservation for Other Backward Classes in Central Government jobs. Within hours, Rajiv Goswami, a Delhi University student, sets himself on fire outside Deshbandhu College. Over 159 self-immolations follow over the next three months. The country tilts on the axis of caste-based affirmative action.
Cut to 1 January 2017. The Modi government appoints Justice G. Rohini to head a Commission under Article 340 to sub-categorise the OBC list — to split the 27% into pockets reserved for the most-deprived OBC sub-groups. The Commission's tenure extended 14 times to date; the report submitted in August 2023 awaits political action.
For UPSC, OBCs are the largest under-served group — estimated 41-52% of India's population (Mandal 1980 said 52%; NSSO 2006 said 41%; Bihar caste survey 2023 said 63% in that state). The 27% reservation, the Indra Sawhney 9-judge bench (1992), the 102nd Amendment 2018 (constitutionalising NCBC), the 103rd EWS Amendment 2019 (which excludes OBCs from its 10% quota), the 105th Amendment 2021 (restoring state power to identify SEBC), and the Rohini Commission 2017-23 are all examinable.
Why this matters for UPSC
Prelims: Articles 15(4), 16(4), 16(5), 340, 342A, 366(26C), 338B; NCBC; 102nd, 103rd, 105th Amendments; Indra Sawhney; Rohini Commission; creamy layer.
Mains GS-II: 2017 asked "Implementation of Constitution provisions for backward classes." 2021: "Justify the role of NCBC post-102nd Amendment." 2023: "Sub-categorisation of OBCs — imperative or fragmentation?"
Interview: Mandal-Kamandal politics, caste census, Bihar caste survey 2023, EWS-OBC overlap, creamy layer.
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