News: Government appointed Commission has been examining sub-categorisation of Other Backward Classes(OBC) for almost three years now.
Facts:
- What is sub-categorisation of OBCs? OBCs are granted 27% reservation under the central government.The sub-categorisation is needed as only a few affluent communities among the Central List of OBCs have secured a major part of this reservation.
- Hence, sub-categorisation would ensure equitable distribution of representation among all OBC communities.
- Who is examining sub-categorisation? The Commission to Examine Sub-categorisation of Other Backward Classes was appointed in 2017.It is headed by retired Delhi High Court Chief Justice G Rohini.
- What are its terms of references? The terms of reference of the commission includes:
- To examine the extent of inequitable distribution of benefits of reservation among the castes or communities included in the broad category of OBCs with reference to such classes included in the Central List;
- To work out the mechanism, criteria, norms and parameters in a scientific approach for sub-categorisation within such OBCs;
- To take up the exercise of identifying the respective castes or communities or sub-castes or synonyms in the Central List of OBCs and classifying them into their respective sub-categories.
- To study the various entries in the Central List of OBCs and recommend correction of any repetitions, ambiguities, inconsistencies and errors of spelling or transcription.
- Expenditure: Its budget is being drawn from the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) which was given constitutional status by the government in 2018.
- Progress so far: The Commission is ready with the draft report.The current tenure of the Commission ends on January 31,2021.
