New Delhi, Sep 3 : The Narendra Modi government is expected to consider a report by the Justice Rohini Commission regarding the sub-categorisation of Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
This report was submitted to President Draupadi Murmu in July.
If the government decides to implement its recommendations, it could be a trump card towards a major OBC outreach by the ruling BJP with Lok Sabha elections just months away.
The issue is connected to the future of over 40 per cent of the country’s total voters, namely the OBC voters, and it’s poised to become a hotly debated political matter.
In 2017, the Centre had set up a commission under the leadership of Delhi High Court’s retired Chief Justice G. Rohini with the main objective to identify all Other Backward Castes (OBCs) and categorise them into sub-categories.
According to reports, the recommendations in the report are compartmentalised into two parts. The first part of the report deals with the equitable and inclusive distribution of the OBC reservation quota. The second part of the report focusses on data pertaining to the identification of 2,633 backward castes currently listed in the country, their proportional representation in the population, and the benefits they have received from reservation policies thus far.
It is likely to effect changes in the conceptual framework and practical implementation of the OBC reservation policy that has been in place for the past 40 years. As per reports, the panel says that the intention behind categorising different castes and sub-castes is not to establish a new hierarchy among OBCs, but to ensure equal opportunities for all by placing them on a level playing field. Basically it focusses on equality of all castes and sub-castes.
