The Central Government of India extended the tenure of the Commission to Examine Sub-categorisation of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) headed by Justice G Rohini, former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court. The commission now has until July 31 to submit its report.
OBCs are granted 27% reservation in jobs and education under the central government. In September last year, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court reopened the legal debate on sub-categorisation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes for reservations.
The debate arises out of the perception that only a few affluent communities among the over 2,600 included in the Central List of OBCs have secured a major part of this 27% reservation.
The argument for sub-categorisation — or creating categories within OBCs for reservation — is that it would ensure “equitable distribution” of representation among all OBC communities.
To examine sub-categorisation of OBCs, the Rohini Commission was constituted on October 2, 2017.
At that time, it was given 12 weeks to submit its report, but has been given several extensions since, the latest one being the 10th.
The other member in the Commission is former journalist Jitendra Bajaj, director of the Centre for Policy Studies.
Before the Rohini Commission was set up, the Centre had granted constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC).
In its letter to the government on July 30, 2019, the Commission wrote that it is ready with the draft report (on sub-categorisation). It is widely understood that the report could have huge political consequences and face a judicial review.
Following the latest term of reference given (on January 22, 2020) to the Commission, it is studying the list of communities in the central list.
In an RTI response to The Indian Express, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment said on Wednesday that the Rohini Commission on September 29, 2020 asked for copies of advisories from NCBC regarding some OBC communities in the central list from Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Daman and Diu, and the Ministry forwarded this request to the NCBC in October.
In 2018, the Commission analysed the data of 1.3 lakh central jobs given under OBC quota over the preceding five years and OBC admissions to central higher education institutions, including universities, IITs, NITs, IIMs and AIIMS, over the preceding three years. The findings were-
