Central Idea

The Justice G. Rohini-headed Commission for the sub-categorisation of Other Backward Classes (OBC) caste groups on July 31 submitted its report on the issue to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
This is nearly 6 years after the Union government first assigned the task to it — a task that was initially meant to be finished in 12 weeks.

Who are the OBCs?

The Other Backward Classes (OBCs) are a group of socially and educationally disadvantaged castes in India.
They constitute a significant portion of the population and have been granted 27% reservation in jobs and education under the central government.
To ensure equitable distribution of benefits among all OBC communities, the idea of sub-categorization within the OBCs was proposed.
The Rohini Commission, established in 2017, was tasked with examining this issue.

Concept: Sub-categorization aims to create sub-groups within the larger OBC community for the purpose of reservation, addressing the issue of some affluent communities securing a major share of the reservation benefits.
Legal Debate: The concept of sub-categorization has also been a subject of legal debate for other reservation categories, such as Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SCs and STs).

Purpose: The Rohini Commission was constituted on October 2, 2017, to examine the extent of inequitable distribution of reservation benefits among different OBC castes or communities.
Terms of Reference: Its primary terms of reference included evaluating the need for sub-categorization, working out a scientific approach for it, and identifying any discrepancies or errors in the Central List of OBCs.

Timeframe: Initially given 12 weeks to submit its report, the Commission has since been granted 10 extensions.
Draft Report: The Commission was ready with a draft report on sub-categorization.
Data Challenges: One of the challenges faced was the lack of data for the population of various OBC communities, making it difficult to compare their representation in jobs and admissions.
Multiple Extensions: The Commission’s report was submitted on the last day of its functioning after it had received up to 14 extensions from the government in the last six years.
Reason for Delays: At first, the government said that the COVID-19 pandemic had slowed down its working. However, after the second wave, the government has been saying that the Commission has been working on finalising its report.

Categorisation of Caste Groups: According to sources, the Commission has suggested breaking the caste groups into broad categories, with the dominant castes (with the most access to benefits) getting the smallest share of the 27% reservation, and the historically crowded-out caste groups getting the largest share of the reservation pie.
Unequal Distribution: The Commission’s analysis of 1.3 lakh central jobs and OBC admissions to central higher education institutions over a few years revealed that 97% of all jobs and educational seats were concentrated among just 25% of sub-castes classified as OBCs.
Dominant Communities: A significant portion of these opportunities (95%) went to only 10 OBC communities.
Underrepresented Groups: Nearly 37% (983) of OBC communities had zero representation in jobs and educational institutions, while 994 OBC sub-castes had a total representation of only 2.68% in recruitment and admissions.

Census Enumeration: The Commission proposed an all-India survey to estimate the caste-wise population of OBCs, but the government has been silent on this while OBC groups demand the enumeration of OBCs in the Census.
Pending Decision: The report’s recommendations and findings will require careful deliberation by the government before any implementation.

Now that the Commission’s report is with the Social Justice Ministry, the government is expected to hold deliberations on the recommendations contained in it, before thinking about implementing any part of it.
The report has not been made public yet.