Mandal Commission.pptx

The Mandal Commission, also officially known as the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes ( SEBC ), was set up on 1st Jan 1979. It was the effort of the Indian Government and the then Prime Minister, Morarji Desai, who put forth the recommendations of the Mandal Commission.
The fundamental mandate of the commission was to identify the socially and educationally backward classes and foster them with reservation to counter caste inequality, social injustice, and discrimination. The Mandal Commission put forth their first recommendations on 31st December 1980 to the President.
The Mandal Commission was set up to acquire information and investigate the extent of the educationally and socially backward people in the country. Moreover, it identifies the so-called ‘Other Backward Class or OBC.
It gave recommendations on which ways of social inequality would be ended. However, by then, the Janta Dal had fallen.

1. MANDAL COMMISSION

2. THE QUESTION OF RECURITMENT IN PUBLIC SERVICES Public Services constitute the instrument available in the hands of modern government for carrying out its multifarious responsibilities — regulatory, developmental, promotional and otherwise. Both the efficiency and sufficiency of the government are determined by the professional competence of the personnel employed in it. This implies acceptance of merit as the basis of public recruitment. Historically, the criterion of public recruitment was patronage and it is only in the later part of the nineteenth century that merit as proven through a competitive examination gradually replaced it various countries. The Macaulay Report on the Indian Civil Service, reporting in 1854, merit was adopted as the established basis of public recruitment in India. It said: ‘Hitherto the admissions (to the Indian Civil Service) have been given by favour . They are hence-forward to be gained by superiority in an intellectual competition’. After independence also, the secular forces always upheld merit being retained as the base of public recruitment, the only exception made was for what were then called the ‘Depressed Castes’

3. REVERSE DISCRIMINATION The Modern state broadened its social role by earmarking certain percentage of jobs in public institutions for the disadvantaged groups of the population. This policy is known by various names — reservation system, quota system, affirmative action, positive discrimination and reverse discrimination. Discrimination is defined as different and selective application (or disregard) of rights, laws or organisational policies to potential or actual employees. Reverse discrimination is ‘preferential treatment of individuals or groups who had previously been discriminated against because of their race, national origin, sex, age, religion or handicap, to the exclusion of other individuals or groups. Its overall goal is to incorporate the socially and economically disadvantaged groups into the mainstream of political, social and economic institutions. Major fields of discrimination are employment, education, housing, etc. It is thus a rectificatory device to curb and correct the interplay of free market forces

4. BIRTH-BASED CATEGORIES In India, society, that is, Hindu society finds itself stratified permanently. The caste has rigidly divided the Hindus into various birth-based categories, some advantageously placed and some disadvantageously. Once born in a caste, one has to remain confined to that caste, and the incumbent inherits all the perks and disabilities ex officio. The ‘ shudras ’, destined to live on the fringe of society, and the ‘untouchables’, those outside the four-fold classification condemned to live on the fringe of the fringe, suffer from numerous stigmas, social and economic. Confronting such a spectacle, the State in India has been obliged by the Constiution to earmark for the disadvantaged a certain percentage of seats in the legislative bodies at all levels as well as of posts in the country’s public services. Admission to institutions of specialized education also provides for reservation for such groups. The two sections, identified by the Constitution of India for such preferential treatment are the scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes. It is then argued that they stand in need of a set of concessions vis-a-vis the other more advantageously placed castes so that they could come on a par with the latter and get a fair share in the country’s public services The Constitution of India, while guaranteeing ‘equality of opportunity’ to all in matters of public employment, enjoins on the State to reserve in the public services under it appointments or posts in favour of any ‘backward class of citizens’.

5. CONSTITUIONAL PROVISIONS RELATED TO RESERVATIONS 1.   Part XVI of the Constitution of India  states that the Lok Sabha shall represent specific castes and tribal groups. 2.   Article 15  of the Indian Constitution prohibits discrimination on the grounds of religion, race, place of birth, caste, or sex. 3.  Article 15(4) of the Indian Constitution empowers the states to make special arrangements for promoting the interests of socially and educationally backward classes. 4.   Article 16(4)  of the Indian Constitution provides that the state shall reserve services favouring backward classes. 5.  Article 16(4) A of the Indian Constitution provides that the state shall provide reservation to backward classes in matters of promotion. 6.  Article 16(4) B of the Indian Constitution provides that reserved seats meant for the promotion of backward classes that remain unfilled shall be carried forward to the subsequent year. 7.   Article 243D  of the Indian Constitution provides that there shall be reservations for backward classes in every Panchayat. 8.   Article 330  of the Indian Constitution provides for the reservation of seats in Lok Sabha for the backward class. 9.   Article 332  of the Indian Constitution provides for the reservation of seats in State Assemblies for the backward class. 10.   Article 243T  of the Indian Constitution provides that seats should be reserved for backward classes in every municipality.

6. WHAT WAS MANDAL COMMISSION? The Mandal Commission, also officially known as the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes ( SEBC ), was set up on 1st Jan 1979. It was the effort of the Indian Government and the then Prime Minister, Morarji Desai, who put forth the recommendations of the Mandal Commission. The fundamental mandate of the commission was to identify the socially and educationally backward classes and foster them with  reservation  to counter caste inequality, social injustice, and discrimination. The Mandal Commission put forth their first recommendations on 31st December 1980 to the President. The Mandal Commission was set up to acquire information and investigate the extent of the educationally and socially backward people in the country. Moreover, it identifies the so-called ‘Other Backward Class or OBC. It gave recommendations on which ways of social inequality would be ended. However, by then, the Janta Dal had fallen.

7. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND First Backward Class Commission: In January 1953, under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first backward class commission was set up. It was set up under the chairmanship of social reformer Kaka Khelkar . The Mandal Commission Report was put forth in March 1955. Around 2,399 backward classes were listed along with 837 as the ‘most backward’. However, this report was never implemented. Second Backward Class Commission: Under the leadership of Morarji Desai, on January 1, 1979, a former member of Parliament was chosen, i.e. B.P Mandal, to head the second backward class commission. He submitted the report to the Government two years later. To be precise, on December 31, 1980. However, the Janata Dal had fallen, and the government of Indira Gandhi came to power. This issue remained in the deep freeze for a decade. Mandal Commission: Eventually, In 1990, the then Prime Minister V.P Singh announced the implementation of the Mandal Commission. This announcement faced violent riots and attacks in Western and Northern India. On 13th August 1990 government order was released for its implementation and VP Singh announced its legal implementation in his Independence Day speech.

8. INDICATORS OF MANDAL COMMISSION After thorough research and data analysis, the Mandal Commission embraced eleven point criteria by grouping into the three headings to get recognized as OBC (Other Backward Class). These three groupings are as follows: 1. Social 2. Educational 3. Economic The Mandal commission boldly concluded that 52 per cent of the country’s population comprised backward castes. The Mandal Commission accordingly argued that 52 per cent of all posts under the Central Government ought to be reserved for the backward classes. As the recommendation of 52 per tent could go against the earlier judgment of the Supreme Court of India which had laid down that reservation of posts must be below 50 per cent, the Commission proposed reservation to be pegged at a figure which, when added to 22.5 per cent for the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, remains below 50 per cent. In view of this legal constraint the Commission was obliged to recommend a reservation of 27 per cent only, even though their population is almost twice this figure.

9. SOCIAL 1.  Castes that others perceive to be socially backward. In other words, castes that are backward in the perception of other people in society. 2.  Castes that mainly depend on their livelihoods by hand. Example: Manual/Daily wage labourer . 3.  In cases such as rural areas where at least 25% of women and 10% of men above the state average are married below the age of 17. Whereas, in urban areas, in those cases where 10% of women and 5% of men married below the age of 17 is above the state average. 4.  Castes where female employment is at least 25% higher than the state average.

10. EDUCATIONAL 5.  Castes in which the children in the age group 5-15 have never been to school is 25% higher than the state average. 6.  If the drop-out (one who quits the school in the middle without passing) rate in the age group 5-15 years is at least 25% above the state average. 7.  Castes, where registration of matriculates is at least 25% lower than the state average.

11. ECONOMIC 8.  Where the average value of family assets is at least 25% lower than the average value of the state. 9.  The castes in which the number of families living in kaccha houses is 25% above the state average. Kaccha houses refer to thatched houses or those made up of mud/clay. 10.  Castes where more than 50% of the households have a water source for drinking beyond half a kilometre . It refers to those families who travel more than half a kilometre to collect drinking water. 11.  The castes in which the families taking household consumption loans are 25% above the state average.

12. MANDAL COMMISSION RECOMMENDATIONS The Mandal Commission report stated that the country is composed of 52% OBCs. In the beginning, the Government argued that the percentage of the reservation provided must match the total percentage of OBCs in the country. However, this would breach the orders of the  Supreme Court . Reservation of 27% of seats for the people belonging to the lower strata of society in the central government and public sector services. Reservation of 27% of the promotions for the Other Backward Class in the Public services. The Age relaxation would be the same as that of Schedule Caste and  Scheduled Tribe . Reservations are to be made for the OBCs in various sectors like  Public Sector Undertakings , banks, government services, schools, and colleges, along with universities. A roster system should be made for the backward classes as that of Schedule Caste and Scheduled Tribe. The Government of India to make necessary and required provisions to implement all these recommendations.

13. IMPACT OF MANDAL COMMISSION The then Prime Minister V.P Singh announced the implementation of the Mandal Commission in 1990. This led to violent protests in the northern and western parts of India. Many students from different backgrounds immolated themselves in the protest. Rajiv Goswami was the first student to attempt self-immolation while a student at  Deshbandhu College ,  Delhi University  in October, 1990 to protest against the  Mandal Commission  laws for Affirmative Action. His action sparked a series of self-immolations by college students and led to a formidable movement against job reservations for backward classes, as recommended by the Mandal Commission. He was earlier elected as the President of Delhi University's Student Union. He died after about a decade of suffering because of the 70% burns he had suffered. There were segments of the population who did not assent to the idea of facilitating government jobs on the basis of birth  class and caste  rather than on merits. According to them, this mitigated the chances of the upper castes getting recruited into government services. The protests blocked the roads, highways transport etc. The protests were led by the students and were planned publicly. The Mandal riots and protests led to strikes, shutdowns, looting, damaging public property, etc. The riots led to the popularisation of the Mandal Commission.

14. The mass media was equally loud and unambiguous in pointing out the dangerous implications of reservation policy in public recruitment. So destabilising was the policy announcement of V.P. Singh that sews papers brought out editorials saying that V.P. Singh’s measure was designed to get political mileage even though he thoughtlessly divided the Indian society along caste-lines and introduced caste war im the society. Intellectuals were shocked. Th general opinion was that V.P. Singh showed his utter immaturity and short-sightedness as a Statesman and a nation-builder by recognising caste as the base of social re-structuring. To stop the snowballing of the popular agitation against reservation for OBCs, V.P. Singh later made two announcements. The reservation policy of twenty-seven per cent for OBCs was not to be extended to educational institutions. Second, the reservations would continue for 10 years at the end of which it would be reviewed. The implementation was finally challenged in  Indra Sawhney vs Union of India case.

15. INDRA SAWHNEY CASE The 13 th August 1990 announcement of the implementation of Mandal Commission by V.P Singh was challenged in the court of Law. Indra Sawhney & Others v. Union of India also known as the Mandal verdict was an Indian landmark  public interest litigation  case delivered by a 9-judge constitution bench.Indra Sawhney, the petitioner in this case, made three principal arguments against the Order: 1. The extension of reservation violated the Constitutional guarantee of equality of opportunity. 2. Caste was not a reliable indicator of backwardness. 3. The efficiency of public institutions was at risk. The five-judge Bench of the Supreme Court issued a stay on the operation of the Government Order of 13 August till the final disposal of the case.

16. ISSUES BEFORE THE COURT Whether caste on its own constitutes a different class and whether economic criteria could by itself be the determinant of a class. Whether Article 16(4) was an exception to Article 16(1) and is exhaustive in itself of the rights of reservation. Does Article 16(4) allow classification of ‘Backward Classes’ into Backward Classes and Most Backward Classes or permit classification among them based on economic or other considerations. [Article 16 (4)provides that the State can enact legislation for the reservation of posts in the government sector or jobs in favour of OBC. Article 16 (1) provides for the general rule which entails that there shall be equality in appointment in public sector jobs and there shall be no discrimination for such employment under the State, only on the grounds of religion, caste, race, sex, place of birth, descent or residence]

17. CONTENTION OF COURT IN ITS JUDGEMENT Backward classes under Article 16(4) cannot be identified on the basis of economic criteria but the caste system also needs to be considered. Article 16(4) is not an exception to clause 1 but an instance of classification as envisaged by clause 1. Backward classes in article 16(4) were different from the socially and educationally backward mentioned in Article 15(4). The concept of a creamy layer was laid down and it was directed that such a creamy layer be excluded while identifying backward classes. Article 16(4) does allow the classification of backward classes into backward and more backward. Reservation shall not exceed 50 percent, moreover, reservation in promotions shall not be allowed. Any new disputes regarding criteria were to be raised in the Supreme Court only.

18. AFTER INDRA SAWHNEY CASE A number of developments in the reservation have taken place after the Indra Sawhney case. The Parliament responded by enacting the 77 th  Amendment to the Constitution by adding clause [4A] to Article 16 in 1995, by virtue of which powers are conferred to the State to reserve seats in favour of SC & ST in promotions in Public Services if communities are not adequately represented in public employment. The Supreme Court upheld the validity of Article 16(4A) in M. Nagaraj Vs Union of India 2006, and it has laid three requirements: SC & ST should be socially and educationally backward. No adequate representation for SC and ST in public employment. It shall not affect the over efficiency in the administration.

19. UNDER NARSHIMA RAO When Prime Minister Narshima Rao intended to implement the recommendations of the Mandal Commission . However, the reaction from the public was mild. Narasimha Rao Government in 1991 introduced two changes such as, Economic Criteria: Adoption of the economic criteria in granting reservation and giving preference to the poorer sections among the OBCs in the 27% quota. EWS Reservation: Reservation of another 10% of jobs for poorer (economically backwards) sections of higher castes who are not covered by any existing schemes of reservation.

20. MERITS OF MANDAL COMMISSION Increased Representation:  The Mandal Commission helped in increasing the representation of SEBCs in government jobs and educational institutions. According to Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, OBC representation against total appointment through direct recruitment was consistently above 27% during 2014-2021. Access to Education : The reservation policy enabled many OBC students to gain access to higher education. This resulted in a significant increase in the number of OBC students in universities and colleges. According to the Ministry of Social Justice during the period of 2014-2021, the enrolment of OBCs in Higher Educational Institutions has been consistently increasing since 2014-15. Social Justice:  The Mandal Commission's recommendations were based on the principles of social justice and aimed at providing equal opportunities to all sections of society, especially those who have been historically disadvantaged.

21. DEMERITS OF MANDAL COMMISSION Limited Impact on Upliftment: The impact has been limited to a very few communities. According to the Justice  Rohini G. Commission , out of almost 6,000 castes and communities in the OBCs, only 40 such communities had gotten 50% of reservation benefits for admission in central educational institutions and recruitment to the civil services. Politicisation : The politicians have often used the Reservation as their vote bank politics. During 1980s, the Mandal Commission was highly politicized giving a new form of Politics- Mandal politics. Even today, it is used as a political tool. Recently, a politician while campaigning in Karnataka has demanded to lift 50% limit on SC/ST/OBC reservation. Negative Impact on Merit: The reservation policy led to a negative impact on merit as many deserving candidates were left out, and the seats were filled by candidates with lesser merit.

22. CRITICISM AGAINST THE MANDAL COMMISION

23. GOALS OF SOCIAL JUSTICE NOT SERVED The second-generatIon beneficiaries do not suffer from social and handicaps characteristic of their parents and thus they need not get into the public services through lowered recruitment standards. They are elitist in their origin and upbringing, and to confer concessions on them in the matter of recruitment is not contributive to the goals of social justice especially in the context of a vast army of unemployed youth. A need for de- schedulising such ‘repeat’ groups among these communities appears, therefore, to be fair. Also, expansion of educational facilities for the members of the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes appears to be the most effective way for giving them parity with the rest in the society in regard to recruitment to the public services. Arrangement of pre-civil service entry coaching may be much more effective, at least in the long run. One should also not overlook an uneven spread of benefits reaped by members of the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. The communities clubbed under the scheduled castes are themselves not internally homogeneous, some being far less backward than others. Consequently the fruits of reservation are getting increasingly cornered by the more forward castes among the scheduled castes, thus keeping the really downtrodden where they virtually were in the past.

24. UNTAMPERED RADICALISM The Second Backward Classes Commission was set up in 1978 by the Janata Government, its chairman being B.P. Mandal. The Commission had five members, all but one drawn from the backward castes and the remaining one from the scheduled castes. Unlike the composition of the first Backward Classes Commission which was broad-based, the second Commission had a membership which was exclusively from the backward castes. This partisanship reflected itself in its untampered radicalism. As against 2,399 backward classes identified by the first Commission the Mandal Commission spread itself much more widely, listing no fewer than 3,743 castes as backward. It is to be noted that between 1953 and 1978, the number of backward castes should have shown a decline to reflect the impact, however marginal, of the successive programmes of development. The Mandal Commission was apparently unmindful of such inconsistencies.

25. COMMISSION WAS ONE-SIDED A Commission of Inquiry is normally appointed when a certain issue has acquired wide public importance and the State seeks the considered advice of persons who already possess a level of subject-matter competence and are expected to go deep into the problem and come out with their considered recommendations. A commission acquires the colour and character of an adjudicatory organ, which is expected to examine the issues deeply and impartially and then come out with is recommendations. The movement appointed B.P. Mandal as Chairman of the Backward Classes Commission. But he was a politician and himself belonged to a backward caste. That he was fabulously wealthy is also true and well-known. In addition to him, the Commission had four members not many of whom possessed judicial experience and all came from the disadvantaged castes. This kind of composition violated the first and foremost norm of an inquiry, namely, the principle of objectivity. The one-sided membership of the Mandal Commission produced a Report which became one-sided. The Mandal Commission lacked a wider perspective and did not sufficiently take into account the larger issues such as the need for an efficient and professional civil service capable of undertaking growingly complex tasks of democracy and development.

26. MODIFICATION IN THE LIST REJECTED A member of the Commission, L.R. Naik, an ex-MP and a scheduled caste, in his dissenting note, had suggested modification of the common list of socially and educationally backward classes, prepared by the Tata Institute of Social Studies, by identifying forward castes among them. Naik said the higher castes had made their presence felt in the caste hierarchical society, either by their numerical strength or their age-old co-existence with other advanced communities in villages and towns, The depressed backward classes, on the other hand, being extremely backward, socially, educationally as well as economically, would be incapable of availing of the opportunity accorded by the Mandal Commission’s report. Noting Naik’s dissent while presenting the report, B.P. Mandal said the suggestion to treat this most deprived and under-privileged sections of backward classes as a separate entry was not acceptable to the Commission. In addition, he said, the population figures of the depressed backward classes worked out by Naik were very arbitrary and based on pure conjecture.

27. WRONG ASSUMPTIONS Though the Mandal Commission bears the nomenclature of ‘Backward Classes Commission’ its report does not define the term ‘class’ and assumes, quite innocently, that class means caste. The Constitution does not makecaste as the basis of reservation; what it talks about is educational and economic backwardness. Mandal, however, believed that ‘the substitution of caste by economic test will amount to ignoring the genesis of, social backwardness of the Indian society’. In other words, in his hand ‘class’ became caste. ‘Class’ is a socio-economic phenomenon and admits of mobility, while caste is static, and is determined by an ascriptive factor like birth.

28. FALLIABLE DOCUMENT It is not unusual to find poor people even amongst those who may have been born in upper castes. Similarly, certain individuals belonging to disadvantaged groups have worked their way up the social hierarchy and improved their economic lot under the successive Five Year Plans of development are also as a consequence of the State’s policy of job reservation practised since the inception of the Constitution in 1950. The historically determined caste system has not remained immune to the impulses and energies released by the on-going processes of democracy and development. The doctrine of reservation in the public service is insensitive to the changes taking place since the enforcement of the Constitution. This makes it a fallible document.

29. EXPLOSIVE TO SOCIAL PEACE Firstly, it has its impact on the efficiency of administration. A widely prevalent view is that those who enter the civil service through the lowered standards bring rather lower levels of efficiency in administration with its deleterious impact on policy-making and implementation. Secondly, the soft corridor of recruitment keeps society deprived of the services of the most competent persons who would otherwise be getting into public administration. This will also result in resentment which some day may threaten to tear apart the social fabric. Thus viewed, the Mandal Commission Report is a potentially explosive one which may disrupt the social peace. Thirdly, while India is formally committed to the abolition of caste system, the reservation system perpetuates it, which is banal. Today, instead of caste being on the decline in the society it is tending to become part of India’s psyche even in metropolitan cities. Caste has been India’s historic curse, and it is this which is striking deeper roots and becoming the focus of loyalty under the policy of reservation. Fourthly, The policy of job reservation has thus produced an unintended consequence of fragmenting the country along caste lines. All political parties are seen exploiting caste sentiments during elections, and their stands and utterances are going more and more caste-oriented. Fifthly, In several parts of the country, caste-based organizations have already started springing up, and States like Tamil Nadu, have even struck roots. They act as pressure groups to extract more concessions for them to safeguard what have already gained — all in the name of social justice.

30. WAY FORWARD Periodic Review of Reservation Policy : The policy must be reviewed periodically to assess its impact as directed by the Supreme Court in Indira Sawhney vs Union of India case (1992). Improve Early Level of Education:  The government must improve education at earlier levels so that the reservations at higher levels could easily be phased out. Increase Job Opportunities in Private Sector:  The government should thrive to increase job opportunities in private sector to reduce dependence on public sector and reservation for employment.

31. CONCLUSION The Mandal Commission Report was drafted and by comprehending the situation and the details of the reservation regime. It was a critical step in developing India’s reservation policy. It resulted in significant changes to reservation policy, by increasing the percentage of people who benefited from it. It undoubtedly caused problems for the general population, as their opportunities were diminished, but the reservation policy was necessary to uplift disadvantaged citizens out of the vicious cycle of poverty and discrimination. Numerous amendments and rules were introduced following the Mandal Commission’s Report. Though the report was not perfect, it was significantly improved after it was challenged in the Indira Sawhney case, and a very beneficial reservation policy for OBCs in central government services began in 1992. Moreover, no Union administration has made any significant efforts toward implementing the Mandal Commission’s recommended structural changes. Agriculture, the rural economy’s bedrock, has become economically unviable. So after the implementation of the reservation policy, some important essence of the recommendation needs to be brought in for a more effective result.