Mandal commission

The decision to set up a second backward classes commission was made official by the president on January 1, 1979. The commission popularly known as the Mandal Commission, its chairman being B. P. Mandal. It submitted the report in December 1980.The recommendations of the commission were: The population of OBCs which includes both Hindus and non-Hindus is around 52 per cent of the total population according to the Mandal Commission.

However, this finding was criticized as based on "fictitious data." The National Sample Survey puts the figure at 32%[1]. 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[2].

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:

1. 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.
2. The above reservation should also be made applicable to promotion quota at all levels.
3. Reserved quota remaining unfilled should be carried forward for a period of three years and de-reserved thereafter.
4. 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.
5. 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.
5. 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.^[1]

Backward class people is a collective term, used by the Government of India, for castes which are economically and socially disadvantaged and face, or may have faced discrimination on account of birth. Most of them do not have any land ownership or economic independence and are dependent on Forward Castes for employment, mostly as farm hands or menial labour; or derive income from self employment on caste-dependent skills assignment. They typically include the Dalits, the Scheduled castes, and the Other Backward Classes (OBCs). They live mainly in rural India and perform hard physical labour such as agriculture and janitorial work. Backward Castes constitute around 50%^{[citation needed]} of the Indian population. Even though they have a rich culture, many live below the poverty line. According to estimates from the Indian government's National Sample Survey, in 1999-2000 44% of Scheduled Tribes and 35% of Scheduled Castes lived in poverty.^{[citation needed]}. Their plight is regarded as a serious issue in Indian society^{[citation needed]}.

Political parties in India have attempted to use these communities as votebanks.^{[citation needed]} In contrast, some politicians like Ambedkar, D. Devaraj Urs, V.P. Singh have tried to self-empower the Backward Castes. As a result, there are now many opinion leaders, including Bangarappa, Siddaramaiah, Narendra Modi, Uma Bharathi, Ramachandra Veerappa, Laloo Prasad Yadav, and Mulayam Singh Yadav, in these communities.