In order to update the classification of OBCs, the government also set up the National Commission for Backward Classes to examine the requests and recommendations for inclusion and complaints in the Central Lists of Backward Classes. (For a complete list refer to http://ncbc.nic.in). The list includes prominent castes such as the Yadavs in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the Meenas of Haryana and Rajasthan, the Kurmis and Koeris of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

• What about OBCs who can no longer be considered part of the ‘‘backward classes’’?

In a decisive judgment in Indira Sawhney and Others vs Union of India, the Supreme Court upheld the 27 per cent reservation for OBCs but subjected it to the exclusion of socially advanced persons/sections — termed as the ‘‘creamy layer’’ — from among the OBCs.

After this verdict, the government appointed a committee to evolve the criteria to arrive at this exclusion. The committee recommended that the rule of exclusion applies to the sons and daughters of persons holding constitutional positions; those whose parents (either of them) are Class I officers; those whose parents (either or both) are in the rank of colonel and above in the army, and equivalent posts in the navy, air-force and para-military forces. The committee also debarred children from families owning irrigated land as per state land ceiling laws, and persons having a gross annual income of Rs 1 lakh or above, or possessing wealth above the exemption limits prescribed by the Wealth Tax Act for a period of three consecutive years, from taking the benefit of these reservations.

... contd.