Recently, 60 OBC candidates who passed UPSC examination were denied the benefits of reservation. The problem was later fixed and corrected, but the Brahminical forces have been always trying to stop the OBCs from getting what they deserve in terms of their religious backwardness and social status in the Brahminical Social Order. The issue of reservation is on fire as most of the politically dominant castes are demanding reservation all over India. The demand is increasing day by day and also they have been talking about a conscious break from the Brahminical social order. This is a vital point as they are strategically moving away from the Brahminical value system that degrades them and other human beings.

As the issue will heat up to the run-up to elections in 2019, the RSS/BJP Government tried to pay lip service to the OBCs by declaring that the National Backward Class Commission will be constituted which look into “categorization” of backward classes with a view to give them a reservation. The jobs in the public sectors are already shrinking and there is a mighty privatization of the education that limits the role of government in the admission process. It is time to extend reservation in all the sectors and in the private places as well, then only the demands of the communities can be met.

So, the RSS/BJP is applying delaying tactics. It has not yet fully constituted the “National Commission” for the backward classes and more importantly, the suggestions that the OBCs be divided into three categories have not been discussed at various levels and various stakeholders. The three categorizations that have been muted in the discussion of OBC reservation are:

1. Extremely Backward Classes (Group A)
2. Most Backward Classes (Group B)
3. Backward Classes (Group C)

Now imagine so many thousands odd castes among the OBCs in India and their numbers in different proportions, this categorization is going to create a real political mess and will lead to much confusion. Besides this, there is a role for the state Governments to play in this and it will further lead to confusion. The Bihar Government fractured the Dalits in the state of Bihar by creating a separate category of “Mahadalits” among the Dalits and this looks like the exact scheme for the OBCs, but we do not know when the categories will be firmed up by the RSS/BJP Government.

Author – Mangesh Dahiwale