Immediately after the commission was reconstituted on February 28, 1998, the commission began public hearing for speedy disposal of cases by undertaking visits in different states. ``By march 1998, out of 718 pending cases, we could forward only 471 cases to the Central government. However, the government has unnecessarily delayed gazetting of these cases, which would have benefited the people,'' Sahu told reporters here on Sunday.

Sahu said the five-member commission had noticed that everyone in the country wanted to get included in the backward classes category to get the benefit of 27 per cent reservation in jobs for backward classes. ``This trend, visible everywhere, is a fallout of mandal politics,'' the member claimed, citing a case of Gujarat where even a Brahmin, who happened to be a retired bureaucrat, wanted to be included in backward classes.

Clarifying that only those socially backward could be listed in the category, Sahu said several castes had fraudulently got included in backward class category. He said the commission had got 260 applications in Pondicherry, which has a population of 4.5 lakh, for getting listed in the list. However, a survey later found that only 30 castes actually existed in Pondicherry, he said.

West Bengal, according to Sahu, is the only state where backward classes are given just 10 per cent reservation, despite the fact the backward classes constitute 54 per cent of the state's total population. Whereas SC/ST, which constitute 22.5 per cent of the state's population, are given 31 per cent reservations.

The main objective of the commission, constituted under an Act in 1993, is to include or remove from the list castes which it considers should be given the benefit, if found to be socially backward after hearing applicants, and also a chance to those who want to oppose their inclusion.

The commission, under the chairmanship of justice P K Shyam, cleared 471 cases within months of taking over, while the remaining cases are expected to be cleared by January-end, Sahu said, claiming that the last commission could clear only 320 cases in its tenure - 40 cases every year.

The member, however, regretted that the government had not acted promptly on the commission's recommendations, which are binding on the government.