As Justice Rohini Panel Submits Report, Will the Modi Govt Move Ahead with Sub-Quotas for OBCs?

New Delhi: Six years after it was constituted, and following 14 extensions, the Rohini Commission, tasked with the sub-categorisation of Other Backward Classes (OBCs), submitted its report to President Droupadi Murmu on Monday, July 31.

With the commission report submitted, the ball is now in the court of the Narendra Modi government on whether or not it would want to apportion the existing 27% reservation among various groups which are part of the OBCs. The Commission was constituted in October 2017 by the Modi government amid expectations that it would lead to the sub-division of the reservation pool among OBC communities depending upon the population and deprivation of particular communities.

There has been a complaint among relatively backward communities among OBCs that those OBC groups with relatively good economic standing and educational standards have been grabbing the benefits of reservations at the cost of most deprived communities. The sub-grouping, many believe, would lead to equitable distribution of reservation benefits among the constituent groups.

Although the Commission was to submit its report in 12 weeks, following its constitution in October 2017, it has been given 14 extensions and its tenure finally ended on Monday, July 31. It is widely believed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), following the constitution of the commission, had a rethink on the issue, for such a move to divide the reservation pool among OBCs could trigger controversy and affect its political fortunes. As a result, the BJP government has dragged its feet on the issue for a long time.

The fact that Rohini Commission has submitted its report at a time when there is a growing clamour from the opposition parties to conduct a nationwide census assumes significance. The BJP has been opposed to the idea of caste census. In fact, Mandalite parties, such as the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), have said if the government intends to go for division of the reservation pool among the OBCs, it should first carry out caste census to obtain information on the population share of constituent groups among the OBCs.

As per the government notification, the commission headed by retired Justice G. Rohini of the Delhi high court was also tasked with recommending the correction of any repetitions, ambiguities, inconsistencies, and errors of spelling or transcription, examining the extent of inequitable distribution of benefits of reservation among the OBCs, and working out the mechanism, criteria, norms and parameters in a scientific approach, for sub-categorisation within such OBCs, PTI reported.

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