ADDITION OF 80 CASTES IN CENTRAL OBC LIST

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Latest Context

About 80 more castes in six States—Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, and Haryana—have requested authorisation from the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) to be included to the OBC list.

Facts about Other Backward Class (OBC)

• All classes of citizens who are socially and educationally backwards are referred to as OBCs.
• The Supreme Court decided that the creamy layer exclusion criteria should be used to determine OBCs.
• A creamy layer can be defined as those classes of people within the OBC category who are no longer backward and are socially and economically at par with other forward classes of the country.

Procedure for Inclusion:

• A statutory body called NCBC reviews proposals to add castes to the Central OBC list.
• In order to review ideas, NCBC forms a Bench. The Bench then makes a recommendation to the Union government.
• President announces the modification when Cabinet accepts the additions and introduces legislation. President announces the modification when Cabinet accepts the additions and introduces legislation.

Constitutional Provisions:

• Article 15(4) of the Constitution, State has the power to make special provisions for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward class i.e., the OBC.
• The term "special provision for advancement" refers to a number of things, including financial aid, free housing, scholarships, and reservation of seats in educational institutions.
• Article 16(4), state is empowered to enact laws for the reservation of appointments or posts in favour of OBCs.

Union Government’s Achievements:

• Since 2014, the Central OBC list of Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Jammu & Kashmir has been added by 16 communities.
• Introduced the 105th Amendment to the Constitution to reaffirm the States' ability to preserve their own OBC lists, preventing the loss of benefits for 671 State OBC communities.

Facts about National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC)

• The NCBC has constitutional status under the 102nd Constitution Amendment Act of 2018.
• It has the power to look into welfare claims and complaints for socially and educationally backward classes.
• Earlier, NCBC was a statutory body and came under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
• Under Kaka Kalelkar and B.P. Mandal, two Backward Class Commissions were appointed in the 1950s and the 1970s, respectively.
• The First Backward Classes Commission is also known as the Kaka Kalelkar Commission.
• The government was ordered to establish a permanent body to consider, analyse, and suggest the inclusion and exclusion of various Backward Classes for the purpose of benefits and protection by the Supreme Court in the Indra Sawhney case of 1992.
• The National Commission for Backward Classes Act, approved by the parliament in 1993 in accordance with these directives, established the NCBC.
• To further protect the interests of backward classes, the 123rd Constitution Amendment bill of 2017 was introduced in Parliament.
• The National Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993, was repealed by a different law that was approved by Parliament, making the 1993 Act obsolete.
• In August 2018, the President assent the bill, giving NCBC constitutional status.
• Structure:

• The Commission is made up of five members such as the Chairperson, the Vice-Chairperson, and three other members who have been appointed by the President by a warrant bearing his signature and seal.
• The President sets the terms of service and terms of office for the Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, and other Members.