The Union Government on March 14 informed Lok Sabha that the Justice G. Rohini Commission which is looking into the sub-categorisation has been working without the data from the last Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) conducted in 2011.
Need for Caste-based Census:
- Estimate change in demography: Present reservations and other welfare scheme entitlements to OBC are still based on the population estimates of 1931.
- Bring about social justice: Help governments’ welfare schemes reach the most backward and deprived castes that have been marginalised till date.
- Help rationalize reservation policy as per need of a specific caste or community: Land fragmentation and decades of agricultural stagnation have turned many upper caste landowners into marginal farmers. Whereas rising rural wage has benefitted some of the backward classes including Dalits.
- Demand for Reservations: There has been demands to expand OBC reservation (as the present 50% cap is arbitrary) and inclusion of dominant castes like Jats, Kapus, Patidars, Marathas etc. into OBC category. Often these demands are not based on scientific evidence. Hence, a Caste based socio-economic census will bring out the real picture.
- OBC Sub-categorisation: OBC membership is large and heterogeneous, with vast intra-caste differences in socio-economic conditions. Some better-off groups among OBC castes have cornered a disproportionately large share of seats reserved for OBCs giving rise to demand of sub-classification of various caste groups among OBCs. Caste based socio economic census will help in such classification.
- Assess impact of Affirmative action: A socio economic caste census would help in assessing how far the extension of reservations to OBCs benefited them.
Rohini Commission:
This Commission was constituted under article 340 of Constitution with mandate is to examine issues of sub-categorization within Other Backward Classes in Central List.
Findings/suggestions:
- It found that 97% of all jobs and educational seats have gone to just 25% of all sub-castes classified. And around 25% of these jobs and seats went to just 10 OBC communities.
- 983 OBC communities, 1/3rd of the total, had almost had zero representation in jobs and admissions in educational institutions.
- Proposed to divide 27% reservation for the castes on the Central list into four sub-categories.
| Rohini Commission: This Commission was constituted under article 340 of Constitution with mandate is to examine issues of sub-categorization within Other Backward Classes in Central List. Findings/suggestions: It found that 97% of all jobs and educational seats have gone to just 25% of all sub-castes classified. And around 25% of these jobs and seats went to just 10 OBC communities.983 OBC communities, 1/3rd of the total, had almost had zero representation in jobs and admissions in educational institutions. Proposed to divide 27% reservation for the castes on the Cent |
