The Other Backward Classes

The most visible form of caste-based discrimination was untouchability, but it was not the only one. A large number of castes were of low status and faced varying degrees of discrimination, though not as extreme as untouchability. These were the service and artisanal castes — the ones who occupied the lower rungs of the caste hierarchy.

The Constitution of India recognises that groups other than Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes may also suffer from social disadvantages. These groups are described in the Constitution as the “socially and educationally backward classes.” This is the constitutional basis for the term Other Backward Classes (OBCs), which is now in common use. These groups need not be based on caste alone, but in practice they generally are identified by caste.

Like the category of ‘tribe’, the OBCs are defined negatively — by what they are not. They are neither part of the ‘forward’ castes at the upper end of the status spectrum, nor are they Dalits at the lower end. Since caste has entered all major Indian religions and is not confined to Hinduism alone, there are also members of other religions who belong to backward castes. They share the same traditional occupational identification and similar or worse socio-economic status. For these reasons, the OBCs are a much more diverse group than Dalits or adivasis.

Historical background

• The first government of independent India under Jawaharlal Nehru appointed a commission to look into measures for the welfare of the OBCs. The First Backward Classes Commission, headed by Kaka Kalelkar, submitted its report in 1953. But the political climate at the time led to the report being sidelined.
• From the mid-1950s, the OBC issue became a regional affair, pursued at the state level rather than the central level. The southern states had a long history of backward caste political agitation that had started in the early twentieth century. Because of these powerful social movements, policies to address the problems of the OBCs were in place in the south long before they were discussed in most northern states.
• The OBC issue returned to the central level in the late 1970s after the Emergency, when the Janata Party came to power. The Second Backward Classes Commission, headed by B.P. Mandal, was appointed at this time. However, it was only in 1990, when the central government decided to implement the ten-year-old Mandal Commission report, that the OBC issue became a major one in national politics.

Political mobilisation and diversity

Since the 1990s, there has been a resurgence of lower caste movements in north India, among both OBCs and Dalits. The politicisation of the OBCs allows them to convert their large numbers into political influence. Recent surveys show that OBCs are about 41% of the national population. This kind of influence was not possible at the national level before, as shown by the sidelining of the Kalelkar Commission report and the neglect of the Mandal Commission report.

However, the OBC category is difficult to work with politically because of the large disparities within it: …