Reconciling the caste-census demand with reservations

Demands for a caste census are deeply linked with the policy of reservations in government jobs and educational institutions. This is not a benign statistical enumeration

There are two factors which matter: a continuing quest for including more social groups into the list of those eligible for reservations and demands for relaxing the Supreme Court mandated 50% quota on reservations in India.

The former is bound to generate more traction for the latter, as inclusion of more communities into the reserved category will shrink the probability of the groups which were there earlier gaining from reservations. The Mandal Commission’s recommendation of providing 27% reservations for OBCS was a direct result of the 50% cap on reservations.

The report says this unequivocally. “The population of OBCS, both Hindu and non-hindu, is around 52% of the total population of India. Accordingly 52% of all posts under the Central government should be reserved for them. But this provision may go against the law laid down in a number of Supreme Court judgments wherein it has been held that the total quantum of reservation under Articles 15(4) and 16(4) of the Constitution should be below 50%. In view of this, the proposed reservation for OBCS would have to be pegged at a figure which when added to 22.5% for SCS and STS, remains below 50%. In view of this legal constraint, the Commission is obliged to recommend a reservation of 27% only, even though their (OBC) population is almost twice this figure.”

It is in this context that recent demand for doing away with the 50% cap on reservations — the groups demanding this are the most consistent in demanding a caste census too — needs to be seen. But reservations are for Other Backward Classes not Other Backward Castes

OBCS, especially in the realm of politics, are always seen as a social group. This does not hold when it comes to provisions for reservations.

Constitutionally speaking, OBC reservations are not at par with reservations for SC-ST groups. The biggest proof of this is the fact that unlike in the case of SC-ST population, OBCS belonging to creamy layer – a threshold which looks at various things, but primarily income limits – cannot avail of reservations.

This underlines the importance of class rather than a caste aspect when it comes to OBC reservations.