What is Mandal Commission?
1. Historical necessity
for setting up Mandal Commission
Article 340 of the
Indian Constitution:
It is obligatory for the
government to promote the welfare of the Other Backward Classes (OBC).
Talk of implementing
welfare measures to this section (OBC) has ignited resentment especially among the high castes.
This Article 340
provided the constitutional legitimacy for setting up Mandal Commission.
Article 340(1)
The President may by
order appoint a commission, consisting of such persons as he thinks, fit to investigate the
conditions of socially and educationally backward classes within the territory of India and the
difficulties under which they labour and to make recommendations as to the steps that should be
taken by the union or any state to remove such difficulties and as to improve ‘their condition
and as to the grants that should be made, and the order appointing such commission shall
define the procedure to be followed by the commission.
Article 340(2)
A commission so
appointed shall investigate the matters referred to them and present to the president a report
setting out the facts as found by them and making such recommendations as they think proper.
2. First Backward
Classes Commission
(Kaka Kalelkar
Commisson)
Adhering to Article 340,
the First Backward Classes Commission was set up by a presidential order on January 29,
1953 under the chairmanship of Kaka Kalelkar,
1. Determine the
criteria to be adopted in considering whether any sections of the people in Its terms of
references were to:
the territory of India
in addition to the SC and ST as socially and educationally backward classes, using such
criteria it was to prepare a list of such classes setting out also their approximate members
and their territorial distribution.
2. Investigate the
conditions of all such socially and educationally backward classes and the differences under
which they labour and make recommendations
1. as to the steps
that should be taken by the union or any state to remove such difficulties or to improve their
economic condition, and
2. as to the grants
that should be made for the purpose by the union or any state and the conditions subject to
which such grants should be made;
3. Investigate such
other matters as the president may hereafter refer to them and
4. Present to the
president a report setting out the facts as found by them and making such recommendations as
they think proper.
For identifying
socially and educationally backward classes, the commission adopted the following criteria:
1. Low social position
in the traditional caste hierarchy of Hindu society.
2. Lack of general
educational advancement among the major section of a caste or
community.
3. Inadequate or no
representation in government services.
4. Inadequate
representation in the field of trade, commerce and industry
The commission
submitted its report on March 30, ‘1955. It had prepared a list of 2,399 backward castes or
communities for the entire country and of which 837 had been classified as the ‘most backward’.
Some of the most noteworthy recommendations of the commission were:
1. Undertaking
caste-wise enumeration of population in the census of 1961.
2. Relating social
backwardness of a class to its low position in the traditional caste
hierarchy of Hindu
society,
3. Treating all women
as a class as ‘backward’;
4. Reservation of 70
per cent seats in all technical and professional institutions for qualified students of backward
classes.
5. minimum reservation
of vacancies in all government services and local bodies for other backward classes on
the following scale: class I = 25 per cent; class II = 33½ per cent; class III and IV = 40 per cent.
Shri. Kaka Kalelkar,
the Chairman, took a rather equivocal stand on the issue, though he did not record a formal
minutes of dissent, in his forwarding letter to the President he opposed the important recommendations
made by the commission. But this report was
not accepted by the Central government on the ground that it had not applied any objective
tests for identifying the Backward Class. Thus, there was a need of
second backward
classes of commission.
3. Second Backward
Classes Commission -
MANDAL Commission
The decision of the
Janata Party Government with Mr. Morarji Desai as PM 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.
3.1 Members of Mandal
Commission
- Shri. B. P. Mandal -
Chairman
- Shri. R. R. Bhole -
Member
- Shri. Dewan Mohan
Lal - Member
- Shri. L. R. Naik -
Member
- Shri. K. Subramaniam
- Member
3.2 Terms Of Mandal
Commission
1. To determine the
criteria for defining the socially and educationally backward classes
2. To recommend the
steps to be taken for their advancement.
3. To examine the
desirability or otherwise for making any provision for the reservation of appointments or posts
in their favour.
4. To present a report
setting out the facts found by the commission.
3.3 Methodology of
Mandal Commission
The Mandal Commission
adopted various methods and techniques to collect the necessary data and evidence to
fulfill the above objectives.
One serious defect
noticed by the Government in the report of the first backward classed commission was that it
had not formulated any objective criteria for classifying the other backward classes.
In view of this, the
commission has taken special care to tap a number of independent sources for the collection of
primary data.
Some of the important
measures taken in this connection were
1. Seminar of
sociologists on social backwardness
2. Issue of three sets
of questionnaires to State Government and the public
3. Extensive touring
of the country by the Commission, taking evidence of legislators,
eminent public men,
sociologist
4. Undertaking country
wide socio-educational survey (A socio-educational field survey was organized under the
panel of experts with M. N. Srinivas as chairman)
5. Preparation of
reports on some important issues by specialized agencies.
6. Caste Study, village
monographs and study of legal and constitutional issues, Analysis of the census data etc.
By adopting this
multilateral approach the commission was able to cast its net far and wide and prepared a very firma
and dependable database for report.
To identify the
socially and educationally backward classes, the commission adopted 11 criteria which could be grouped
under three major headings: social, educational and economic. Of these three groups,
different weight-ages were given to indicators of each group. applied to all
the castes covered by the survey for a particular state.
All castes, which had
a score of 50 per cent (i.e., 11 points) or above by applying the 11 criteria were listed as
socially and educationally backward and the rest were treated as ‘advanced’. It should be noted
that economic criteria were also included in the tests.
3.4 The 11 criteria
are
The 11 criteria are as
follows:
3.4.1 Social Criteria
(4 * 3 = 12 points)
- Castes/classes
considered as socially backward by others.
- Castes/classes which
mainly depend on manual labour for their livelihood.
- Castes/classes where
at least 25 per cent females and 10 per cent males above the state average get married at
an age below 17 years in rural areas and at least 10 per cent females and 5 per cent males
do so in urban areas.
- Castes/classes where
participation of females in work is at least 2 per cent above the
state average.
3.4.2 Educational
Criteria ( 2 points each, total 6 point)
- Castes/classes where
the number of children in the age group of’ 5-15 years who never attended school is at
least 25 per cent above the state average.
- Castes/classes where
the rate of student drop-out in the age group of 5-15 years is at
least 25 per cent
above the state average.
- Castes/classes
amongst whom the proportion of matriculates is at least 25 per cent below the state average.
3.4.3 Economic
Criteria (1 point each, total 4 point)
- Castes/classes where
the average value of family assets is at least 25 per cent below the state average.
- Castes/classes where
the number of families living in kuccha houses is at least 25 per
cent above the state
average.
- Castes/classes where
the source of drinking water is beyond half a kilometer for more
than 50 per cent of
the households.
- Castes/classes where
the number of households having taken consumption loans is at
least 25 per cent
above the state average.
3.5 How 52%?
Figures of caste-wise
population are not available beyond 1931. So the commission requested states/union
territories to use 1931 census data, analyze the trends and estimate by using
statistical methods
for extrapolating the current population. These are well-established scientific methods and the best
possible options at that time to calculate the number of OBCs. The population of Hindu
OBCs was derive by subtracting from the total population of Hindus, the population of SC and
ST and that of forward Hindu castes and communities, and it worked out to be 52 per cent.
Assuming that roughly the proportion of OBCs amongst non-Hindus was of the same order as
amongst the Hindus, population of non-Hindu OBCs was also consider as 52 per cent of actual
proportion of their population of 16.16 per cent or 8.40 per cent. The total
population of Hindu
and non-Hindu OBC therefore naturally added up to nearly 52 per cent of the country’s
population.
3.6 Recommendations of
the Mandal Commission
1. Major
recommendation of Mandal Commission
Reservation for SCs
and STs is in proportion to their population i.e. 22%.
But as there is a
legal obligation to keep the reservation under Articles 15(4) and 16(4) of the constitution below
50%, the commission recommends a reservation of 27% for OBCs.
Article 15(4)
Nothing in this
article or in clause 2 of Article 29 (protection of minorities) shall prevent
the state from making any
special provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes.
Article 16(4)
Nothing in this
‘article shall prevent the state from making any provision for the reservation
of appointments or posts
in favour of any backward class citizens which, in the opinion of the state, is not adequately
represented in the services under the state.
2. Other recommendations of Mandal Commission
- Candidates belonging
to OBC recruited based on merit in an open competition should not be adjusted against
their reservation quota of 27 per cent.
- The above
reservation should also be made applicable to promotion quota at all levels.
- Reserved quota
remaining unfilled should be carried forward for a period of three years and de-reserved
thereafter.
- 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.
- 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
.
3. These
recommendations in total are applicable to all recruitment to public sector
undertakings both under the central and
state governments, as also to nationalized banks.
4. 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.
5. All universities
and affiliated colleges should also be covered by the above scheme of
reservation.
6. To implement the
above recommendations, the government should create the rules and regulations
in the law
Educational
Facilities:
Special educational
facilities designed at upgrading the cultural environment of the students should be created in a
phased manner on selected areas containing high concentration of OBCs. students to enable
them to catch up with students from open quota.
To promote literacy the
following measures were suggested:
7. An intensive
time-bound programmed for adult education should be launched in selected pockets
with high concentration of
OBC population
8. Residential schools
should be set up in these areas for backward class students to provide a
climate especially conducive to
serious studies.
9. Government should
implement Adult education and Residential School seriously throughout India.
10. 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.
Financial Facility:
11. It also suggested
that a part of surplus land as a result of the operation of ceiling laws should
be allotted not only to SC
and ST but also to OBC landless laborers.
12. Members of village
vocational communities who want to set up small-scale industries on their own should be given suitable
institutional finance and technical assistance. In addition, similar assistance should be extended to
those promising OSC candidates who have undergone special vocational training.
In this regard, separate
financial institutions should also be established.
13. It was also
considered imperative that all state governments should create a separate
network of
financial and technical
institutions to foster business and industrial enterprise among OBC as a part
of its overall strategy to
uplift them.
14. To implement all
these recommendations, Central and state governments should form separate ministry.
The commission
suggested that the entire operations of its recommendations should be
implemented for 20
years.On 30th April 1981, Mandal Commission was submitted to both the houses of parliament
but former prime minister Indira Gandhi and after that Rajiv Gandhi cleverly ignored it.On
7th August 1990, Mr.V.P.Singh issued an order in 1990, as Prime Minister, to implement
a part of the recommendations of the Mandal Report. 27% of the jobs were reserved for the
OBCs who constitute about 52% of the total population. Article 16(4) of the Constitution makes
provision for job reservation and Article 15(4) for reservation in educational
institutions. But this latter part of the recommendations was not implemented.
Even in the case of jobs,
reservations were denied in certain "specialized" spheres. Again, this order that sought
to implement the recommendations in a truncated form was fiercely opposed.The opponents
succeeded in obtaining the stay of the operation of the order by filing a writ in the Supreme Court.In the elections that followed, Mr. P.V.Narasimha Rao came to power.
He realized that his
Congress Government could no more ignore the popular upheaval in favour of Social Justice. The
Supreme Court gave its verdict in favour of the implementation of 1990 order of the Union
Government, providing reservation in jobs. So from 1992, a part of the recommendations of the
Commission is being implemented.
(courtesy-http://obcreservation.net/ver2/reservation-mainmenu-9/mandal-mainmenu-102/what-is-mandal--mainmenu-90.html)
