NEW DELHI: A year after Justice Rohini commission on the sub-catagorisation of OBC, submitted its report, the Central government is yet to act on it. The report would have huge political ramifications for the ruling NDA if it is implemented.
The report was submitted to President Droupadi Murmu on July 31 last year.
While the government maintains that it will examine and study the implications of the report, BJP sources said that it may keep it in the backburner as the party cannot afford to upset the influential OBC communities, especially after the saffron party suffered debilitating loss in politically crucial Uttar Pradesh in the recent Lok Sabha elections.
Several post poll surveys showed that unlike in 2014 and 2019, the support from OBCs and Dalits has helped the Opposition INDIA bloc to outperform the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Speaking to this newspaper, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Ramdas Athawale said that the government will take up the report in its Cabinet meeting, after which it will be tabled in Parliament.
“The report was submitted to the ministry last year. The government has not discussed it in the Cabinet meeting yet. I won’t be able to say when it will be taken up in the Cabinet meeting,” he said.
The report, not yet published, reportedly found that an abysmal percentage of OBCs cornered a significant portion of reservation benefits, and it recommended dividing OBCs into sub-groups with separate reservation percentages.
According to sources, to bridge the disparity in the distribution of quota benefits, the Rohini Commission has divided the 2,600 OBCs in the Central list into four sub-categories. The commission has identified the backward castes that receive the least benefits of reservation and those who have been availing the lion’s share of benefits. In its recommendations, the commission is learnt to have adopted a balanced approach to ensure fair distribution of reservation benefits among various castes.
Before the Lok Sabha elections, it was widely believed that the BJP government will implement the Rohini panel report on ‘sub-categorisation of OBCs’ to counter the Bihar government’s caste survey data published in October 2023. The Bihar caste data, which pegged the backward caste population at 63 per cent, sparked a renewed demand from the Opposition for nationwide caste census and review of reservation for backwards. But, after the Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) joined the NDA ahead of the elections, the report was put in cold storage, said party sources.
WHAT CAUSES THE DELAY?
The Rohini Commission report, not yet published, is said to have found that an abysmal percentage of OBCs cornered a significant portion of reservation benefits
It recommended dividing OBCs into sub-groups with separate reservation percentages
It has identified the backward castes that receive the least benefits of reservation and those who have been availing the lion’s share of benefits.
