NEW DELHI: With the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government back in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the Narendra Modi government seems to have put the much vaunted Rohini commission report on ‘revising the reservation percentage of OBCs’ on the back burner.
It was widely believed that the Centre would implement the Rohini panel report on sub-categorisation of OBCs to counter the Bihar government’s caste survey data, which was published in October last year.
The Bihar caste data, which pegged the backward caste population at 63%, sparked a renewed demand from the Opposition for a nationwide caste census and review of reservation for the backward classes.
While the Union government was noncommittal about a national caste census, it was looking to woo the most backward classes by implementing the Rohini committee report and conferring some benefits on them, a source said.
However, the Rohini panel report, which was submitted to the government in July last year, is yet to be published.
It is learnt that the report revealed that less than 1% of dominant backward castes have cornered 50% of the reservation benefits in admissions to central educational institutions and recruitment to central services. Of the 2,600 communities in the central OBC list, 938 sub-castes have no representation in the reserved seats. For equitable distribution of benefits, the commission has proposed to divide OBCs into subgroups with separate reservation percentages.
However, sources said that with Nitish Kumar’s re-entry into the NDA, the BJP is confident of defusing the caste challenges from the Opposition.
“The BJP’s main worry was the consolidation of the Extremely Backward Caste (EBC) vote bloc in Bihar. With Nitish, a Kurmi leader, back in the NDA, the party need not worry about the political ramifications of caste census. So, the government will keep the Rohini panel report in cold storage for the time being. The government is aware that the Rohini panel report will lead to political realignments as it sub-categorises all OBC groups,” said a leader.
The Rohini commission was tasked with putting together a comprehensive pool of scientific data on sub-categories to as to ensure equitable redistribution of the 27% quota benefits for the OBCs among all sub-communities.
According to sources, in its recommendations, the commission is learnt to have adopted a balanced approach to ensure fair distribution of reservation benefits among various castes.
Though the panel was to submit its report by January 2, 2018, it was given 14 extensions since then.
Terms of reference
The terms of reference of the Rohini committee included examining the extent of inequitable distribution of benefits of reservation among OBCs in the Central List and to work out a scientific mechanism, criteria, norms and parameters for sub-categorisation within the OBC community
