Cabinet approves commission on sub-categorisation of OBCs
To create ‘quota within quota’, the Union
Cabinet on Wednesday approved the setting up of a commission to examine the
matter of sub-categorisation of Other Backward Classes (OBCs). The commission
has been mandated to submit is report within 12 weeks from the date of
appointment of the chairperson.
The
commission, to be set up under Article 340 of the Constitution, will identify the
respective castes/communities/sub-castes/synonyms in the Central list and
classify them into sub-categories, and “examine the inequitable distribution of
benefits reservation among castes and communities included in the Central list
of OBCs, according to its terms of reference approved by the Cabinet, an
official release said.
There was no Constitutional or legal bar to
a State categorizing backward classes as backward or more backward and had
further observed that if a State chooses to do it (sub-categorisation), it is
not impermissible in law.
It noted that
10 States -- Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Puducherry, Karnataka, Haryana,
Jharkhand, West Bengal, Bihar, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu – had already carried
out sub-categorization of OBCs.
The NDA
government’s move for sub-categorisation of OBCs is significant, as it comes
ahead of Assembly polls late this year and early next year in about 10 States,
such as Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Also, during
the recently ended Monsoon session of Parliament, the NDA government faced a
setback when the Opposition in Rajya Sabha passed an amendment and stalled the
passage of a Bill to give Constitutional status to the National Commission for
Backward Classes.
The Bill will
now be returned to Lok Sabha, which can either accept or reject the amendment
and send it back to the Rajya Sabha. A joint session could also be convened if
both the Houses differ on a Bill
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