30 Years of Mandal Commission: Where Are We?
Sep. 11, 2020 • Madri Chandak
Profile of the Author: Jahanvi Bhandari is a 3rd year Law Student pursuing B.B.A LLB from MMU, Mullana. The fields of social issues, environmental issues and constitutional topics hold her keen interest.
Introduction
It is very well said that “There is Equality only among equals, to equate un-equals is to perpetuate inequality.”Based on this principle and in pursuit of social justice, The Mandal Commission has established to uplift the weaker and neglected sections of the society and as of the year 2020, The Mandal Commission completes its 30 years of implementation.
History
- The Mandal Commission or the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes Commission was established in India on 1 January 1979 by the Janta Party government under then Prime Minister Morarji Desai.
- The commission was headed by Bindheshwari Prasad Mandal who was one of the then leaders of Congress.
- It was established to study the condition and representation of socially or educationally backward classes and to come up with new effective ways for their advancement and upliftment.
- The report after being compiled in 1980 was handed over to the President in 1983.
- The report suggested that identified on the basis of caste, economic and social indicators the OBC’s comprised of 52% of the Indian population so it was recommended that they should be granted 27% reservation in jobs under Central government and public sectors undertakings.
- The Mandal Commission based on 11 indicators identified 3,743 different castes ad communities as members of OBC.
- Thus, the total no. of reservation for SC (15%), ST (7.5%) and OBC’s (27%) rose to 49.5%.
- The biggest criticism that the Mandal Commission report got was that the data taken for the report was not current; it was based on the 1931 census.
- On 7th August 1990, the VP Singh government decided to implement the recommendation of the Mandal commission and granted 27% reservation to OBC.
- The upper castes and people from general category did protests against it.
Those communities which did not have a share in the reservation backlashed at the government and the political parties to please their own interests went on expanding reservation.
The Mandal movement was primarily political though it aimed at ending discrimination in the society. The concept of equality before law contemplates minimizing inequalities in income and eliminating inequalities in status, facilities and opportunities.[1]
In R Chitralekha & another v/s State of Mysore & Ors (1964), the constitutional bench held, “A classification of backward classes based on economic condition and occupation is not bad and does not offend Article 15(4) [2]…if in a given selection caste is excluded in ascertaining a class within the meaning of Article 15(4) it does not vitiate the classifications if it satisfies other tests.”[3]
The Impression on the Years After
Despite the implementation of the commission, only half of the recommendations were implemented. To handle the problem from the root, it recommended land redistribution and change in relations of production. [4]
- Making Agriculture Economically Viable.
- Reviving Private Investment to Lessen Demand for Reservation.
- Review of Reservation Policy.
Over two decades after its implementation, experts say gross inequality continues to exist in how the benefits of the reservations are enjoyed by the different communities within the OBC. A parliamentary panel on the Welfare of OBCs had in its February 2019 report noted that in spite of four revisions of the income criteria since 1997, the 27% vacancies reserved in favour of OBCs was not being filled up. [5] In the Hindi belt, the percentage of OBC MPs nearly doubled from 11% in 1984 to more than 20 % in the 1990s, whereas the proportion of the upper caste MPs dropped from 47% in 1984 to below 40 in the 1990s. By 2004, 25% of MPs were OBCs in Lok Sabha. [6] To ensure that benefits of the recommendations of the Mandal Commission percolated down to the most backward communities it is now ruled that a household with an annual income of Rs 8 lakh or above would be classified as belonging to the ‘creamy layer’ among OBCs and therefore, would not be eligible for reservations. [7]
Conclusion
India is a country where the majority stays at a lower hand to provide advancement to the minorities. The need to include and make changes in the prevailing laws is always in accordance with time. The hour to review the reservation system has now arrived as the groups for whom this commission was initiated are at a better place now. Actions to uplift the economically weaker sections should be initiated and those taking undue advantage out of it ought to be checked. The aim of the government now should be to prevail just. It should be kept out of any political propaganda and should be thought solely in the welfare of the people.
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References
[2] Article 15 (4), The Constitution of India.
[4] https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-editorials/30-years-of-mandal-commission