Mandal Commission

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The Mandal Commission in India was established in 1979 by the Janata Party government under Prime Minister Morarji Desai with a mandate to "identify the socially or educationally backward."[1] It was headed by Indian parliamentarian Bindheshwari Prasad Mandal to consider the question of seat reservations and quotas for people to redress caste discrimination, and used eleven social, economic, and educational indicators to determine "backwardness." In 1980, the commission's report affirmed the affirmative action practice under Indian law whereby members of lower castes (known as Other Backward Classes and Scheduled Castes and Tribes) were given exclusive access to a certain portion of government jobs and slots in public universities, and recommended changes to these quotas, increasing them by 27% to 49.5%.[1]

Contents

[edit] Background

Under the 1950 Constitution of India, 15% of educational and civil service seats were reserved for "scheduled castes" and 7.5% for "scheduled tribes." The first backward classes commission, headed by Kaka Kalelkar, submitted its report in 1955.[1]

In 1963, the Supreme Court of India ruled that total reservations could not exceed 50%.

[edit] Setting up of Mandal Commission

The plan to set up another commission was taken by the Morarji Desai government in 1978. The decision was made official by the president on January 1, 1979. The commission is popularly known as the Mandal Commission, its chairman being B.P. Mandal.

[edit] Criteria to identify OBC

The Mandal Commission adopted various methods and techniques to collect the necessary data and evidence. The commission adopted 11 criteria which could be grouped under three major headings: social, educational and economic in order to identify OBCs.

[edit] Social

Castes/classes considered as socially backward by others. Castes/classes which mainly depend on manual labour for their livelihood. Castes/classes where at least 25 per cent females and 10 per cent males above the state average get married at an age below 17 years in rural areas and at least 10 per cent females and 5 per cent males do so in urban areas. Castes/classes where participation of females in work is at least 25 per cent above the state average.

[edit] Educational

Castes/classes where the number of children in the age group of 5-15 years who never attended school is at least 25 per cent above the state average. Castes/classes where the rate of student drop-out in the age group of 5-15 years is at least 25 per cent above the state average. Castes/classes amongst whom the proportion of matriculates is at least 25 per cent below the state average.

[edit] Economic

Castes/classes where the average value of family assets is at least 25 per cent below the state average. Castes/classes where the number of families living in kuccha houses is at least 25 per cent above the state average. Castes/classes where the source of drinking water is beyond half a kilometer for more than 50 per cent of the households. Castes/classes where the number of households having taken consumption loans is at least 25 per cent above the state average. Also know as “Creamy layer and this criteria of separation is ignored by the government which known as the most controversial issue of reservation. (Aug2006)

[edit] Weighting indicators

Of these three groups, separate weight was given to indicators of each group. A weight of three points each was given to all the social indicators. Educational indicators were given two points each. And economic indicators were given one point each. All castes which had a score of 50 per cent or above by applying the score were listed as socially and educationally backward and the rest were treated as ‘advanced’.

[edit] Findings and Report

The commission estimated that 54% of the total population (excluding SCs and STs), belonging to 3,743 different castes and communities were ‘backward’.[1] Figures of caste-wise population are not available beyond. So the commission used 1931 census data to calculate the number of OBCs. The population of Hindu OBCs was derived by subtracting from the total population of Hindus, the population of SC and ST and that of forward Hindu castes and communities, and it worked out to be 52 per cent.[2] Assuming that roughly the proportion of OBCs amongst non-Hindus was of the same order as amongst the Hindus, population of non-Hindu OBCs was also considered as 52 per cent.[1]

[edit] Criticism

**NFHS Survey estimated only Hindu OBC population. Total OBC population derived by assuming Muslim OBC population in same proportion as Hindu OBC population)
**NFHS Survey estimated only Hindu OBC population. Total OBC population derived by assuming Muslim OBC population in same proportion as Hindu OBC population)

The National Sample Survey puts the figure at 32%[2]. There is substantial debate over the exact number of OBC's in India, with census data compromised by partisan politics. It is generally estimated to be sizable, but lower than the figures quoted by either the Mandal Commission or and National Sample Survey[3].

There is also an ongoing controversy about the estimation logic used by Mandal commission for calculating OBC population. Famous Indian Statistician,Mr.Yogendra Yadav who supports Reservations agrees that there is no empirical basis to the Mandal figure. According to him "It is a mythical construct based on reducing the number of SC/ST, Muslims and others and then arriving at a number.”

National Sample Survey's 1999-2000 round estimated around 36 per cent of the country's population is defined as belonging to the Other Backward Classes (OBC). The proportion falls to 32 per cent on excluding Muslim OBCs. A survey conducted in 1998 by National Family Health Statistics (NFHS) puts the proportion of non-Muslim OBCs as 29.8 per cent[3]

L R Naik, the only Dalit member in the Mandal Commission refused to sign the Mandal recommendations.[4] He said that there are two social blocks among the OBCs: upper OBCs (Yadavs, Kurmis, Jats etc.) and Most Backward Classes (MBCs). He feared that upper OBCs would corner all the benefits of reservation.

Here we shall present the study of the Mandal Commissions’s list of the OBC for the state of West Bengal only for the sake of brevity. In this list, Urao (along with its synonyms Bandot, Haro, Karkata, Luidu, Shitheo, Tigga and Tirki) has been listed as an OBC (OBC No.176). On the other hand, it is already in the list of Scheduled Tribes for the state with a slight difference of spelling “Oraon” (ST 33). Similarly, Scheduled Tribes Kharia (OBC 105; synonym of Lodha, ST 23 in the ST List), Kherwar (OBC 107; ST 17, with a spelling Kharwar), Koda (OBC 113; ST 20, spelled Kora), Bhotia (OBC 33; ST 5, spelled Bhutia), Brijia (OBC 39, ST 7, with a spelling Birjia), Gonda (OBC 68; ST 12, spelled Gond) and Lakra (OBC 123, and Lakar OBC 122, which is actually a surname adopted by many members of the Scheduled Tribe Munda), which are already declared STs for the state. Tharu (OBC 171) is a widely studied scheduled tribe. Thapa (OBC 170) is a synonym of ST Sherpa (ST 5, same as Bhutia, Tota, Dukpa, Kagatay, Tibetan, Yolmo). Many famous ST surnames have been listed as OBC Mahato (OBC 129), etc. Other anthropologically famous scheduled tribes listed as OBC are Kuki (OBC 118), Lushei (actually Lushai; OBC 124), Koli (OBC 116) and Rohangia.

Similar manipulation has been done with many Scheduled Castes also. For example in the state of West Bengal, Bhangi has been listed as OBC (No. 26), with a rider “excluding those in the Scheduled Caste”. On the other hand the SC list for West Bengal shows that Bhangi (at place no. 22 in the SC list) is an unconditional SC for the whole of the territory of the state. Halalkhor has also been listed as an OBC (No. 73) with a similar condition as above, but this caste is also an unconditional SC (No. 21, spelled Halelkhor). A sub-caste of Dom (Maghaiya-Dom) has been listed as OBC at place No. 126. Dom as a whole has been a Scheduled Caste (No.17 in West Bengal SC list) for ages. Bahelia (SC No. 2) has been listed by its synonym Chirimar (OBC 45). Bagal (OBC 11) is already there in the SC list at place number 1, with a spelling Bagll. Although Nat is an SC (No. 47), its sub-caste Karwal-Nat has been made an OBC (OBC 97). Jaliya Kaivartta (SC 23) is just the Sanskritized name of Machua listed as OBC (OBC 125). All the Nav-Buddhists (Neo-Buddhist) have been include in the OBC list, which is again an anomaly, because the Nav-Buddhists enjoy their SC status.

Not only synonyms or alternative spellings of the SCs and STs have been recorded as OBC, but also there are other types of manipulations like same OBC caste has been listed twice or sometimes thrice in the list of the same state. An example of this type of manipulation is Kahar in Bihar list (No. 23 as well as No. 70), Kewat (at no. 115 as well as 84.)

At any rate the list is vitiated by such inclusions. The Kuki tribes (ST) actually live in Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura, none of which are neighboring to West Bengal. Even if any member of the tribe migrates to West Bengal or anywhere else in India, either it retains its ST status of the mother state or becomes General population. It is difficult to believe that some Kuki tribes live in West Bengal as OBC. Lushai tribe (ST) live mainly in Mizoram and are the principal Mizo tribe. They are also found in Manipur as ST. Koli (ST) are found in a widespread area ranging from Orissa to Rajasthan up to Karnatak. Rohangia ((OBC 158) are actually a distant tribe which mainly live in Myanmar but are also found in Bangla Desh-Myanmar-Tripura boarder areas). Introduction of such castes to the West Bengal OBC list seems to be an act of fertile brain and raises doubt whether any actual survey was done at all. At any rate a small number of these tribes could be present in the former East Bengal (now Bangla Desh) in areas adjoining former state of Assam and Myanmar before partition.

Some OBC caste names given in the list are obsolete names of forward castes. Tyagi is an upper caste, which lives in UP, Haryana and Delhi. This caste was earlier called Taga. But with a general trend of all the North Indian castes to Sanskritize their names, Taga people adopted a new name Tyagi which was similar to Taga. But still in the remote village especially by the illiterate people Tyagis are often called Taga. We find the name of Taga in Haryana Mandal list (OBC 74), Delhi (OBC 81) and Uttar Pradesh (OBC 109, as Taga-Bhat). The principles and norms set in the very beginning regarding the criterion for the Non-Hindu communities have been violated flagrantly, hence now the Roman Catholic is not a religion but a caste in the eyes of the Mandal Commission (Latin Catholic, OBC 106, Kerala). Anglo-Indians, who are the off-springs of the British rulers, have also been made an Other Backward Caste (OBC 6, Kerala). Although it has been decided at the outset that only occupational castes among the Muslims and Christians and the castes bearing the same name as a Hindu OBC or SC will be included as a Muslim or Christian OBC caste, the set rule was violated wherever political expediency dictated. For example Kayastha (Muslim) has been made an OBC (OBC 93, Uttar Pradesh) which does not fulfill the criteria set for inclusion of non-Hindu castes. A last word about credibility of the Mandal survey. Presence of obsolete and archaic caste names like Taga (for Tyagi in Haryana, Delhi and UP), Bhui-har (for Bhumi-har in Bihar), Domb (for Dom in all the southern states), listing of Kuki, Lushai, Rohangia tribes in West Bengal which are not found in West Bengal today but actually some of each of them lived in East Bengal in undivided India neighbouring Tripura, Meghalaya etc., and many such factors cannot be explained unless it is assumed that the Mandal list is not result of a recent survey, but it has been compiled by editing the caste list of 1931 census. But the editing was most inefficient. These names could not have crept in unless the old united Bengla caste list of 1931 was just copied and some named SC & ST, as well as well known forward caste names were just deleted, to arrive at the current OBC list of Mandal.

Every state’s OBC list has the same story. The entire list seems to be manipulated, but most carelessly and inefficiently manipulated. Most famous scheduled castes like Dusadh (Dhari), Mochi, Domb (Dom) and Bhangi have been put as OBCs in many states. If the Government does not reject this whole Mandal list, all the SCs and STs listed as OBC will have to be deleted from the respective SC and ST lists. Because the Mandal Commission was a constitutional body which had done a survey and this survey was done at a later date than the surveys for the SC and ST, which were done during the British period without the authority of our present Indian Constitution. Indeed any act (or survey) done under the authority of Indian Constitution automatically supersedes any act (or survey) of the British administration if there is an overlap or confusion.

[edit] Recommendations

The report of the commission was submitted in December 1980. It called for reserving 27% of all services and public-sector undertakings under the Central government and 27% of all admissions to institutions of higher education (except in states that have reserved higher percentages) for Other Backward classes (OBCs), over and above the existing 22.5% reservation for SCs and STs.

The recommendations can be represented in a gist form as follows:[2]

The population of OBCs which includes both Hindus and non-Hindus is around 52 per cent of the total population. However, only 27 per cent of reservation was recommended owing to the legal constraint that the total quantum of reservation should not exceed 50 percent. States which have already introduced reservation for OBC exceeding 27 per cent will not be affected by this recommendation. With this general recommendation the commission proposed the following over-all scheme of reservation for OBC: candidates belonging to OBC recruited on the basis of merit in an open competition should not be adjusted against their reservation quota of 27 per cent. The above reservation should also be made applicable to promotion quota at all levels. Reserved quota remaining unfilled should be carried forward for a period of three years and de-reserved thereafter. Relaxation in the upper age limit for direct recruitment should be extended to the candidates of OBC in the same manner as done in the case of SCs and STs. A roster system for each category of posts should be adopted by the concerned authorities in the same manner as presently done in respect of SC and ST candidates.

These recommendations in total are applicable to all recruitment to public sector undertakings both under the central and state governments, as also to nationalised banks. All private sector undertakings which have received financial assistance from the government in one form or other 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 to bring a desired social change, "educational reform" was not within the terms of reference of this commission. To promote literacy the following measures were suggested:

  1. An intensive time-bound programme for adult education should be launched in selected pockets with high concentration of OBC population;
  2. Residential schools should be set up in these areas for backward class students to provide a climate specially conducive to serious studies. All facilities in these schools including board and lodging should be provided free of cost to attract students from poor and backward homes;
  3. Separate hostels for OBC students with above facilities will have to be provided;
  4. Vocational training was considered imperative.

It was recommended that seats should be reserved for OBC students in all scientific, technical and professional institutions run by the central as well as state governments. The quantum of reservation should be the same as in the government services, i e, 27 per cent.

[edit] Protest

A decade after the commission gave its report, V.P. Singh, the Prime Minister at the time, tried to implement its recommendations in 1989. The criticism was sharp and colleges across the country held massive protests against it. Soon after, Rajiv Goswami, student of Delhi University, threatened self-immolation in protest of the government's actions. His act further sparked a series of self-immolations by other college students and led to a formidable movement against job reservations for Backward Castes in India.

[edit] Debate

[edit] Arguments for reservations

 This article's section called Debate does not cite any references or sources. (December 2006)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.
  • Reservations are all about representation. A group or groups deserve reservation if their representation in the mainstream - in education and jobs - is disproportionately less than their population. Positive discrimination gets moral justification if this lack of representation is due to historical reasons of caste stratification.For thousands of years the lower castes of Shudras and untouchables were forcibly prevented from acquiring any education. So it is foolish to argue that 80% of India's population who comprise these communities should compete on equal terms in the job market.[citation needed]
  • The Indian government should open Kendriya Vidyalaya- and Navodaya Vidyalaya-quality schools all over India to create a level playing field. Until then, it should continue with a reservation policy. Quality is the key,and that is what the upper castes do not want for their low caste fellow citizens, which explains the violent opposition to reservations in central government institutions. When states reserved seats for OBCs in lower quality institutions, the opposition was comparatively muted. Most Dalits and OBCs can access only poor quality government schools where the teaching staff, traditionally from the upper castes, are often truant of low quality. Products of such a school system are dubbed as lacking in "merit".[citation needed]
  • If there is no formal reservation in private sector for Dalits/OBCs/Muslims, then the government should extend incentives like reduced taxes to the private sector.[citation needed]
  • The government should notice that the private sector only puts dilution of quality of high tech jobs but there are ample unskilled/semiskilled jobs as well. However, even those have inadequate Dalit/OBC/Muslim representation. In this supposedly egalitarian society the upper castes display blind prejudice and color consciousness to an extent unmatched in the West. Most of the business sector in India is controlled by the Bania caste, who make sure that they corner almost all the capital advanced by the government in terms of subsidies, bank loans and exemptions. The government should create a law to do away with the near 100% Brahmin reservation[citation needed]in post of Temple Pujari, post of Sankaracharya. The upper castes ensure that, even in the government sector, reserved posts are often filled with members of the upper castes by pitching educational qualifications unnecessarily high, so that candidates of the lower castes are not found. Even if they are available, they can always be judged "unsuitable"in the interview.[citation needed]

Supporters of the Mandal Commission argue that national unity should be on the basis of justice for all castes, and that both traditional varnashram and post-independence Congress Raj had worked only to the benefit of brahmins and other privileged minorities.[citation needed] They also argue that reservations are essential to the uplift and empowerment of people from less privileged castes.How deep colour and caste prejudiceis among the uppercastes has been commented upon by any number of foreign observers,or African students in India who feel this effect.A glance at the matrimonial column in any Indian paper which show up the fact that the upper castes will put the Ku Klux Klan to shame in the concern for white supremacy and compared to our meritocracy, Verwoerd and Vorster would appear to be bleeding heart liberals.

Reservation as we see it today was not what the Dalits of India wanted. The Simon Commission had agreed to the "separate electorate" demand of Dr. Ambedkar. Mahatma Gandhi in protest decided to fast unto death because he was of the view, predicting that this would create further divisions between the untouchables and upper caste Hindus. Dr. Ambedkar was forced to submit to emotional blackmail, much against his better judgement. The reservations in India today are a pale shadow of those in Malayasia for example, which guarantee a proper share for Bhumiputra Malays not only in both private and public jobs, but also in university seats, bank loans, share in equity issues, foreign scholarships, housing, and in all other economic activity

Reservation was agreed upon by Dr. Ambedkar in the Poona Pact only for a fixed period of time, namely 10 years after independence, as those opposed to reservations often note. However, reservations were introduced by the British in many parts of India during the British Raj, thereby enabling small sections of the SC/ST/OBC community to acquire some degree of education. There was no question of giving up reservations for the deprived classes in the foreseeable future. Only political reservations were incorporated for 10 years, initially, and have been extended from time to time as per the will of the Indian Parliament.

[edit] Arguments against reservations

The opponents of the issue argue:

  • Allocating quotas on the basis of caste is a form of racial discrimination, and contrary to the right to equality.
  • As a consequence of legislating to provide reservations for Christians and Muslim, religious minorities in all government education institutions will be introduced [5] which is contrary to the ideas of secularism, and is a form of discrimination on the basis of religion.
  • Most often, only economically sound people (and rather rich) from the so-called lower castes will make use of most of the reserved seats, thus counteracting the spirit of reservations.[6] Political parties know reservations are no way to improve the lot of the poor and the backward. They support them because of self-interest of the “creamy layer”, who use the reservations to further their own family interests, and as a political flag of ‘achievement’ during election campaigns.[7] In fact, several studies show that the OBC class is quite comparable with the general caste in terms of annual per capita consumption expenditure, and the top strata of OBC is ahead in a host of consumption areas.[8]
  • The quality of these elite institutes may go down, because merit is severely being compromised by reserving seats for certain caste-based communities.[9]
  • There are no efforts made to give proper primary education to truly deprived classes,[6] so there is no need to reserve seats for higher studies. The government schools in India have absolutely no comparison to the public schools in the developed countries, and only about 65% of the Indian population is literate,[10] the functional literacy being estimated to be even as low as only 34% of the population[citation needed]. The critics argue that "reservation" only in higher institutions and jobs, without improving primary and secondary education, cannot solve this problem.[7]
  • The government is dividing people on the basis of castes for political advantages.[9]
  • The caste system is kept alive through these measures. Instead of coming up with alternative innovative ideas which make sure equal representation at the same time making the caste system irrelevant, the decision is only fortifying the caste system.
  • The autonomy of the educational institutes are lost.[7]
  • Not everyone from the so-called upper classes are rich, and not all from so called lower classes are poor.[7]
  • The reservation policy of the Indian Congress will create a huge unrest in the Indian society.[9][11] Providing quotas on the basis of caste and not on the basis of merit will deter the determination of many educated and deserving students of India.[9]
  • Reservations will increase the phenomenon of brain drain from India -- undergraduates and graduates will start moving to foreign universities for higher education, which will have devastating effects on the Indian economy[citation needed].
  • Multi-national companies will be deterred by this action of the government, and foreign investment in India may dry down, hurting the growth of the Indian economy.[7] Doubtless, urgent actions to improve the lot of the majority, which has not benefited from development — not achieved after 55 years of reservations for scheduled castes — are essential. But this must not hazard improving the economy’s competitiveness in a very competitive world.[7]
  • There are already talks of reservations in the private sector.[7] If even after providing so many facilities to reserved categories during education, if there is no adequate representation of those people in the work force, there must be some problems with the education system.

Critics of the Mandal Commission argue that it is unfair to accord people special privileges on the basis of caste, even in order to redress traditional caste discrimination. They argue that those that deserve the seat through merit will be at a disadvantage. They reflect on the repercussions of unqualified candidates assuming critical positions in society (doctors, engineers, etc). As the debate on OBC reservations spreads, a few interesting facts which raise pertinent question are already apparent. To begin with, do we have a clear idea what porportion of our population is OBC? According to the Mandal Commission (1980) it is 52 percent. According to 2001 Indian Census, out of India's population of 1,028,737,436 the Scheduled Castes comprises 166,635,700 and Scheduled Tribes 84,326,240, that is 16.2% and 8.2% respectively. There is no data on OBCs in the census.[12] However, according to National Sample Survey's 1999-2000 round around 36 per cent of the country's population is defined as belonging to the Other Backward Classes (OBC). The proportion falls to 32 per cent on excluding Muslim OBCs. A survey conducted in 1998 by National Family Health Statistics (NFHS) puts the proportion of non-Muslim OBCs as 29.8 per cent.[13] The NSSO data also shows that already 23.5 per cent of college seats are occupied by OBCs. That's just 8.6 per cent short of their share of population according to the same survey. Other arguments include that entrenching the separate legal status of OBCs and SC/STs will perpetuate caste differentiation and encourage competition among communities at the expense of national unity. They believe that only a small new elite of educated Dalits, Adivasis, and OBCs benefit from reservations, and that such measures do nothing to lift the mass of people out of backwardness and poverty.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Bhattacharya, Amit. "Who are the OBCs?". Retrieved on 2006-04-19. Times of India, April 8, 2006.
  2. ^ a b Ramaiah, A (6 June 1992). Identifying Other Backward Classes (PDF) 1203-1207. Economic and Political Weekly. Retrieved on 2006-05-27.
  3. ^ 36% population is OBC, not 52%. South Asian Free Media Association (8 May, 2006). Retrieved on 2006-05-27.
  4. ^ Mandal's True Inheritors. The Times of India (2006-12-12). Retrieved on 2006-12-12.
  5. ^ Quota for Tamil Nadu religious minorities
  6. ^ a b Srinivas, M.N. (August 1997). "The pangs of change". Frontline 14 (16). The Hindu. 
  7. ^ a b c d e f g Rao, S.L.. "TOO MANY BOSSES - The UPA has a cabinet with many insubordinate ministers", The Telegraph, 5 June 2006. Retrieved on 2006-06-05. 
  8. ^ Dobhal, Shailesh. "In consumption, OBCs are no longer backwards", The Economic Times, Times Internet Limited, 2 June 2006. Retrieved on 2006-06-02. 
  9. ^ a b c d "Divisive quota: Education alone can empower", The Tribune, 28 April 2006. Retrieved on 2006-05-24. 
  10. ^ Literacy Rate: India. Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved on 2006-06-02.
  11. ^ Ramchandran, S. "India Inc., liberalisation, and social responsibility", The Hindu, April 25, 2006. Retrieved on 2006-06-02. 
  12. ^ Population. Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved on 2006-05-27.
  13. ^ 36% population is OBC, not 52%. South Asian Free Media Association (8 May 2006). Retrieved on 2006-05-27.

[edit] References

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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