Some logic at last

Much has been said in the past few months about the flaws in the Mandal Commission’s conclusion that 52% of India’s population is OBC. For the first time someone has made an attempt to defend it. The writer is SS Gill, member-secretary, Mandal Commission. Read the article at

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Editorial/Counting_caste/articleshow/2019868.cms

SS Gill takes pains to elucidate how the Mandal Commission identified indicators of social backwardness, most of which were economic indicators. He claims the sample was adequate and representative and hence correctly identified the Backward Castes. He then justifies using the 1931 census data to identify their percentage in the population by arguing that the proportion of various groups in the Indian population should have more or less remained the same. So once OBCs have been identified on the basis of ‘objective’ criteria their proportion can then be extrapolated from the 1931 census. Simple!!! But flawed!!

The Mandal survey was carried out in 1978. 30 years have gone by since then and Indians’ average income and standard of living has risen. Many of the castes would no longer qualify as OBC on the basis of the same criteria used by the Mandal Commission.

The second objection of anti-quota protestors is that quota, if any, should be for backward people and not backward castes. The creamy layer of the backward castes should be excluded and by the same logic backward people of the ‘forward’ castes should be eligible for the quota. Neither Mandal Commission nor the Govt. has an answer to this