The Mandal Commission and its implementation

Detail

1. Who are the OBCs?

• OBC (Other Backward Classes): an administrative category (a label the government uses to run its policies). It covers communities that are educationally and socially backward but are not Scheduled Castes (SCs) or Scheduled Tribes (STs). They are also called "backward castes".
• The Constitution calls them "socially and educationally backward classes" (SEBCs).
• Article 15(4) lets the State make special provisions for them.

• Article 16(4) lets the State reserve government posts for backward classes that are not adequately represented in its services. [13]

• North–south gap:

• Southern states had OBC reservation from the 1960s or earlier.
• North India did not. So OBC reservation became a big national issue only in the north.

2. Early attempts before Mandal

• First Backward Classes Commission: chaired by Kaka Kalelkar. It reported in 1955. The Union government did not act on it.
• Janata government (1977-79): the demand for OBC reservation in the north and at the national level grew under this government.
• Karpoori Thakur formula (Bihar, 1978):
• Karpoori Thakur, the socialist Chief Minister of Bihar, led the way.
• His formula reserved government posts for backward classes split into sub-groups. It also reserved posts for women and for the economically weaker among other groups.
• The total was 26%:
  • 12% for the most backward;
  • 8% for the other backward;
  • 3% for women;
  • 3% for the poor among other groups.
• Why it matters: it was an early model of sub-categorisation, which means dividing OBCs into smaller groups so that the weakest are not crowded out. The Rohini Commission later took up the same idea.
• Bharat Ratna: the award was announced on 23 January 2024, a day before his birth centenary, and given posthumously (after his death) [10]. President Droupadi Murmu presented it on 30 March 2024, and his son Ramnath Thakur received it [9].

3. The Mandal Commission (Second Backward Classes Commission)

• Legal base: Article 340 lets the President appoint a commission to study the conditions of backward classes and suggest remedies [13].
• Set up: by the Janata government in 1978-79, under B.P. Mandal.
• B.P. Mandal (bio): a politician from Bihar. He was briefly Chief Minister of Bihar (1968) and was a Janata Party MP.

• Its tasks: 1. Find out how educationally and socially backward these groups were. 2. Identify the backward classes. 3. Recommend remedies.

• Report: 1980. By then the Janata government had already fallen, and the report stayed shelved for about ten years.

• Main reading: it treated "backward classes" as "backward castes". The reason was that many castes other than the SCs were also treated as low in the caste hierarchy.
• Main findings:
• It used 11 indicators, grouped as social, educational and economic.
• It listed 3,743 castes as OBCs.
• It estimated OBCs at about 52% of the population.

• Its survey showed very low OBC presence in educational institutions and public services (government jobs).

• Main recommendations:

• 27% reservation for OBCs in educational institutions and government jobs.

• Land reform and other measures to improve OBC conditions.

• Why 27%, not 52%: SCs and STs already had 22.5% together. Adding 27% kept the total within 50%, the limit the courts had suggested.

4. Implementation — the "Mandal issue" (1990-92)

Step	Date	Government	What happened
Decision	August 1990	National Front (PM V.P. Singh)	27% of jobs in the central government and public sector undertakings (PSUs) reserved for OBCs
Order	13 August 1990	National Front	DoPT Office Memorandum (OM), a formal government order, issued
Protests	1990	—	Violent "anti-Mandal" protests in north Indian cities
Change	25 September 1991	P.V. Narasimha Rao (Congress)	New OM: preference for poorer OBCs within the 27%, plus a 10% quota for the economically backward among other groups
Court verdict	16 November 1992	Supreme Court, 9 judges	Indra Sawhney judgment (see below)

• Political effect:
• Supporters of the OBC quota and the anti-Mandal protesters split sharply.
• OBC-based parties rose in the north. NCERT calls this the political rise of the OBCs ("Mandalisation").
• NCERT: today all major parties support OBC reservation. This is part of the "new consensus".

5. Indra Sawhney v. Union of India (1992)

• Bench: nine judges. Judgment dated 16 November 1992 [11].

Issue	What the Court held
27% OBC quota	Upheld. Caste can be used to identify backward classes
Creamy layer	Excluded. The creamy layer is the better-off members of OBCs (with higher income or status), who cannot use the quota [11]
Total limit	Reservation under Articles 15(4) and 16(4) must not exceed 50%, except in extraordinary situations [11]
10% economic quota (1991 OM)	Struck down. Economic criteria alone cannot be the basis for reservation under Article 16(4)
Promotions	No reservation in promotions. It applies only at the entry stage
Permanent body	Told the government to set up a permanent body to examine OBC lists. This led to the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) in 1993

• The NCBC was first a statutory body, set up under the National Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993. A "statutory body" is one created by an ordinary law. That Act was later repealed (cancelled) when the NCBC became a constitutional body [14].
• Full details are in vulnerable-sections-safeguards.

6. Later developments

Amendment / step	Year	Change
93rd Amendment	2005	Inserted Article 15(5), allowing reservation for OBCs, SCs and STs in educational institutions, including private ones (minority institutions excluded) [13]
Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act	2006	27% OBC quota in central educational institutions such as IITs and IIMs [12]
102nd Amendment	2018	Made the NCBC a constitutional body (Article 338B). Inserted Article 342A (Central List of SEBCs) [5][6]
103rd Amendment	2019	EWS quota, up to 10%, for the economically weaker sections among groups not covered by other quotas. Inserted Articles 15(6) and 16(6) [13]
105th Amendment	2021	States got back the power to keep their own OBC lists [4]
Rohini Commission report	2023	Sub-categorisation of OBCs [2][3]
Caste enumeration decision	2025	Caste to be counted in the next Census [7][8]

• NCBC under Article 338B (2018):
• Members: a Chairperson, a Vice-Chairperson and three other Members, all appointed by the President [5].
• Duties: it checks whether the safeguards for SEBCs are working and looks into complaints. It sends reports to the President, which are laid before each House of Parliament [5].
• Powers: it has the powers of a civil court during an inquiry. For example, it can summon witnesses and order documents to be produced [5].

• Consultation: the Union and every State government must consult it on all major policy matters affecting SEBCs [5].

• The 105th Amendment, step by step:

• In its 5 May 2021 judgment in the Maratha quota case, the Supreme Court read the 102nd Amendment as taking away the states' power to identify SEBCs [15].
• Parliament passed the 127th Amendment Bill, 2021. The Lok Sabha passed it on 10 August 2021 and the Rajya Sabha on 11 August 2021 [4].

• It became the 105th Amendment. Now the President's list under Article 342A is only for the central government. Each State or UT may, by law, prepare its own list, which can differ from the Central List [4][6].

• Rohini Commission:

• Appointed under Article 340 on 2 October 2017. Chair: Justice G. Rohini, retired Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court [3].
• Its tasks [3]:
  • check how unequally the benefits of reservation are shared among OBCs;
  • suggest a scientific method for sub-categorisation;
  • correct repeated entries and spelling errors in the Central List.
• It asked for more time because it needed caste-wise data [2].

• It submitted its report to the President on 31 July 2023 [2].

• Caste census:

• On 30 April 2025, the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs decided to include caste enumeration (counting people by caste) in the main Census, not as a separate survey [7].
• Until Census 2011, only SCs and STs were counted by caste [8].
• Census 2027 will be held in two phases. Caste will be recorded electronically in the second phase, Population Enumeration [8].

Prelims Hooks

• First Backward Classes Commission → Kaka Kalelkar, report 1955. Second → B.P. Mandal, report 1980.
• Both the Mandal Commission and the Rohini Commission were appointed under Article 340. Trap: not Article 338 or 338B.
• Mandal figures: 3,743 castes · about 52% of the population · 11 indicators · 27% quota.
• OM of 13 August 1990 (V.P. Singh) → 27% OBC quota in central jobs. OM of 25 September 1991 (Narasimha Rao) → added a 10% economic quota, which was struck down in Indra Sawhney.
• Indra Sawhney (16 November 1992, nine judges): creamy layer excluded · 50% ceiling · no reservation in promotions · led to the statutory NCBC (1993).
• 102nd Amendment (2018) → Articles 338B + 342A. 105th Amendment (2021) → states' power over OBC lists restored. Trap: the bill was numbered the 127th Bill.
• 103rd Amendment (2019) → EWS quota of up to 10% (Articles 15(6), 16(6)). 93rd Amendment (2005) → Article 15(5), quotas in education.
• Karpoori Thakur formula (1978, Bihar): 26% in all (12% + 8% + 3% + 3%). Bharat Ratna announced January 2024, posthumously.
• Rohini Commission: appointed 2 October 2017, report submitted 31 July 2023. Subject: sub-categorisation of central OBCs.

Mains Points

• Caste as a basis for backwardness (GS-I/II):
• Mandal treated caste as the main sign of social backwardness. This brought OBCs into national power and helped build today's multi-party agreement on OBC reservation.

• Critics say it made caste more important in politics. Indra Sawhney tried to balance both sides with the creamy layer test and the 50% ceiling.

• Benefits shared unequally:

• A few stronger OBC castes may take most of the quota benefits.
• The Karpoori Thakur model (1978) and the Rohini Commission (2023) both answer this with sub-categorisation.

• The caste count in Census 2027 could give the data to do this properly.

• Federalism (GS-II):

• The 102nd Amendment (2018), the Supreme Court's 2021 reading of it and the 105th Amendment (2021) show a tension. The question is who decides backwardness: the Centre or the states.

• Making the NCBC a constitutional body made it stronger and gave it the same standing as the national commissions for SCs and STs.

• Pressure on the 50% limit:

• The EWS quota (2019) takes reservations above 50% for the first time on an economic basis.
• Demands from groups such as the Marathas raise a question. Should Indra Sawhney's ceiling stay as it is, or be reconsidered using new caste data?