Chapter II

The First Backward Classes Commission :

Dilemma of Caste Based Reservation

The fit-st all India Backwat-d Classes Comm1ssion was

1 appointed by the pres1dent of India on 29th January

which was formally 1naugrated on the 18th March 1953.

. . 2 commission was cha1red by Kaka Saheb Kalelkar .

1 t tooK two complete years to prepare tne Heport.

1953,

The

1ne

commission subm1tted the Report on the 30th March 1~~5. It

prepared a 11st,conta1n1ng as many as 2399 commun1t1es which

well treated as Soc1ally and Educationally Backward out of

these communities 913 alone had estimate~ population of one

hundred and fifteen millions. The report made it clear that

the problem of Backward classes was essentially the problem

of rural I · 3 A . 1 nd1a . ccord1ng to 1t the re evant factors to

consider in classifying backward classes, would be their

traditional occupation or profession, the percentage of

literacy or general educational advancement, made by them,

the estimated population of the community and the

distribution of the various communities through aut the

state or their concentration in certain areas. The

commission also thought that the social position which a

community occupies in the caste hlerarchy,would also have to

be considered as well as its representation in Government

service or in the industrial sphere.

1. The president may appoint a commission to investlgate the condition of backward classes according to the Article 340 of the Indian constitution.

2.

3.

The commission consisted of eleven members chairman. Vide :- Notification No. 70/53, Home Affairs, dt.29th Jan.l953. Vide :- Backward classes commission's Vol.!, p.55.

29

including the Ministry of

Repor-t ( 1953)

The report marked a considerable divergence of openion

among its members. The commiss1on also failed to specify

any objective tests to define 'backwardness'.

Though the commission had considered several

1n determ1nat1on of oackward classes, yet l t

finally decided to treat caste as an impor~ant factor for

that. The commission pl-epared a list

- - 4 commun1t1es on the basis of caste for which the

. 5 had reservat1ons He was himself shocked by the

oackwal-d

cha1rman

decis1on

of the report. He concluded that the remedies, suggested by

the commission were worse than the evil, 1t was out

6 flght The chairman expressed his deep distress in

to

very

strong language over the caste as the oas1s accepted by the

commission. He suggested that "1f we eschew the p r- inc i p l e

of caste, it would be poss1ble to help the extremely poor

and deserving from all communities. Care however, having

taken to give preference to those who

traditionally neglected social classes7

"

TERMS OF REFERENCE~

come from the

The terms of refrence of the commission as anounced in

4 See Volume II of the Report of the first Backward Classes Commission, 1953.

5 In his covering letter to the president, the Chairman of the Commission,Kaka Saheb kalelkar, wrote in a spirited manner "My eyes were however, opened to the dangers of suggesting remedies on caste basis when l discovered that it is going to have a most unhealthy effect to the Muslim and christian sections of the nation." Letter to the president of India, dated March 30,1955.

6 Ibid, para 21. 7 Ibid, para 22. 8 The Backward Classes Commission Report, 1955, pp.2.

30

the notification are :-

The Backward classes commission shall

a. determine the criter1a to be adopted in cons1der1ng

whether any sections of the people 1n the terr1tory of India

<in addition to the scheduled castes and scheduled Tr1bes

specif1ed by notif1cation issued under Art1cle 341 and 342

of the constitution> should be treated as SOClally and

educationally backward classes,and ,in accordance with such

criteria, prepare a list of such classes setting out also

their approximate numbers and their territor1al

dlstribution;

b. 1nvest1gate the con01t1ons ot all such socially and

educationally backward classes and the difficulties under

which they labour; and make recommendations . -. (i) as to the steps that should be taken by the union or any

state to remove such difficult1es to improve their

condition; and

Cii) as to the grants that should be made for the purpose by

the union or any state and the conditions subject to which

such grants should be made;

c. investigate such other matters as the president may here

after refer to them ; and

d. present to the president a report setting out the facts

as found by them and making such reccommendations as they •

think proper.

As far as the term of reference was concerned other

Backward classes were the main subject of the

31

COfTI!TilSSlOn. l::.ven gave a. pB-i;lent

hear· 1 ng

let tr·,em ·'· ' . ·. ·. T: .:..:: ; . (_. ·,-, ....

The commission drew an exhaust1ve quest1onnaire of

nearly 200 questions under 2~ subheads; namely, criteria,

rev1sion of lists, populat1on, occupat1ons, trade and

profess1ons; polltical; economic; SOClai; educatlonal;

services; labour; agriculture; housing; health and

sanitation, culture, arts and crafts; manners and customs,

pr-ohibition, social disabalities, explo1tation; welfare;

agencies serving backward classes; communi~y proJects; ex-

c r- imina 1 tr-ibes; scheduled and scheduled tr-1bes;

9 scheduled castes and advanced classes .

It shows that the comm1ss1on was well aware of the

social problems and Indian soc1a1 reality. I~ is, therefore,

the commission had taken an exhaustive questionnaire into

account. The commiss1on has ~nalyzed various aspects of the

Indian society to reach to a conclusion. All these aspects

have been taken to determine the criteria of backwardness.

The commission had taken the following criter1a

identifying the socially and educatioally Backwar-d classes:-

<i> Low social position, in the traditional caste hierachy

of Hindu society.

(li) lack of general educational advancement among the major

section of a caste or community.

9 The Backward Classes Commission Report 1955. Appendix II p. v.

32

tili) inadequate 0'}"1 "fl•:l r-epresentation in Government service.

( i v) inadequate representation in the field of trade,

commerce and lndustry.

On the basis

commission prepareo

+" 0.

a

the above ment1oneo

11st of 2399 bacKward classes

communities for the ent1re country out of which 837 wer-e

classified as ·most backward' .Thecomm1ssion also suggested

wide ranging and comprehens1ve measures to up l1 f t the

backward classes.

The recommendations are related to the different

spheres of life, for~; polit1cal, economic and industrial,

land policy, development at l1ve stock, development of

industries and handicrafts, rural development, SOCial and

educational development, reservat1ons in jobs etc. Some of

its important recommendations are

<a> Social backwardness and measures for its removal

<i> A clear enunciation and effective implementation of the

policy of soc1al solidarity and national progress.

(ii> Necessary legislation on marriage and jnheritancc laws.

(iii> prohibition by law of social disabilities.

( i v) Arrangements for the production and dis t ,- i but ion of

literature on social problems.

<v> Liberal use of the press, films, platforms and radio for

the removal of social evils.

<vi) prohibition of all observances tending to promote caste

feelings in government activities.

<vii) Re-organigation of the educat1onal system w1th special

emphasis on the dign1ty of manual labour.

(Vill) Full assistance to promote education as speedily as

possible among the backward classes.

( i X ) Adequate representation 1n government; serv1ces and

gover-nment lndust~ia.l establishments of those

sections who had no chance so far.

(X) Encouragement literature, spec1al cultural

and assistance and promot1on of cult;ural activities

with th1s social end 1n v1ew.

b. Educational backwardness and measures for 1ts removal:-

The commission listed out 8 causes for the educational

backwardness of the backward classes

( i ) Tradit1onal apathy for educat1on on account of S0Cli3.l

and environmental condit1ons or- occupat1onal handlcaps.

{ i 1 ) poverty and lack of- means of d number of

communities to educate the1r ch11Cren.

<iii) lack of educational institutions in the rural areas.

( i v) 1 i vi ng in inaccessible areas and lack of proper

communications.

<v> lack of adequate educational aids in form of freeships,

scholarships, and monetary grants for the purchase of books

and clothing. •

(vi ) lack of residential hostel facilities in places where

educa~t1onal institutions are situated.

<vii> unemployment among the ed~cated acting as a damper on

the desire of some of the communities to educate their

children.

34

{VlllJ Uef ect1ve educational system which does not train

students for appropriate occupations and social possessions.

To solve the above problems, the commission recommended

immediate introduct1on of free and compulsory education

forthe age group 6-14.

Immediate conversion of ex1st1ng elementary schools and

establistment of only bas1c schools where ever there are no

schools. The teachers for the cas1c schools shoula be drawn

from the artisan and occupational communities. They must be

trained in general education and then posted as teachers.

Non-communal hostels should be established and the cost

of board and lodging for the poorer section of the

classes should borne by the Government.

backward

Samata-Ashram schools should be established in which

teachers with their families live with the students.

There is a need to establ1sh secondary schools 1n rural

areas. Basic rural universities should come up. The present

day universities should confine themselves to technical

education and research.

The poor students of the backward classes should be

given liberal scholarships and certain percentage of seats

should be reserved for the backward classes studens. In all

science, engineering, medicine, agriculture, veterinary and

other technical and technological institutions, a resevation

of 70% of seats should be made for qualified students of

backward castes till such time as recommodation is provided

for all the students eligible for admission. The remaining

35

30% as also all seats unava1led of by backward classes

should go to the rest of the students.

c. Resevation of OBCs in Government serv1ce,central and

states

AccOl-d i ng to tne comm1ss1on, prestige,power and

1nfluence, seaLes of pay, secur1ty of employment ano scope

to distt-lbute patronage all tnese nave mace government

service attractive. So claims of OBL.s for adequate

t-epcesenta t ion 1n serv1ce snould be ,-ecogn1zed by

providing reservation of definite quota of vacancies 1n

each class.

To lessen tile kin desire for Government services on

the part of the OBCs. One way lS to render them as

unattract1ve as possible oy reducing tile emoluments attacned

to them social justice and communal harmony bot!\ demand

that the present alarm1ng d1sparity between tne scales of

pay of the lowest and the highest appointments should be

,-educed. As an immediate step, the ratio between the

emoluments of the lowest and those of the highest paid

persons may be reduced to 1: 20 . But this ratio must be

ultimately brought down to 1:10.

Keeping in view the necessity for maintaining high

administrative effic1ency in conjuction with social justice

to all sections of the population, best CQJididates should

,as a rule, be recruited by means of a competitive

examination without any regard to caste considerations. Even

in the sector of resevation, the best amongst the qualified

36

backward classes should be recruited.

The commission suggested that In all and

local body services, the minimum bases of representation of

oBcs should be as follows

class I 25'l. of vacanc1es

class II 33 - 1/3 % of vacanc1es

class III

class IV ~OX of vacanc1es.

Th1s percentage would be over and above that which has

already been conceded by government in case of SCs and

STs.

At the end of 10 years the adequacy of rept-esentat ion

of OBCs should oe reviewed in the !ight of statistics then

available as a result of the 1961 or earlier census which

may contain all commun1ties listed by the commiss1on in

the OBCs group.

d. Ministry for the advancement of backward classes :-

The commiss1on suggested that a new ministry should be

created both at the centre and in the states similar tc the

Ministry of Rehabilitation to handle in an effective manner

the problems for the advancement of backward classes and

also anti-social elements fostet- i ng

disruptive tendencies among the backward classes by

exploiting discontent among them. Its special functions

should be related to :-

all educational problems

rural housing scheme

37

representation in services under government and

local bodies

administrat1on of grants for welfare measures

prov1sion of full employment in rural areas

draw1ng up scllemes for the advancement

backward classes

prov1s1on of adequate f1nance for

implementat1on of schemes.

of

Thus, tile commission presented an 1deal solut1on to the

problem of backwardness w1th a prctical problem to the

determination of criteria to indent1fy the OBCs.

THE GOVERNMENT ACTION

The memorandum on the commission's report, la1d before

the parliament <along with tile report) 1n september 1956, by

G.B.Pant , Minister for Home Affairs, was lligllly cr-itical.

Among other things, it stated that for tile inquiry

contemplated

indisputable

in Article 340, the commission had

yardsticks by which social

to find

backwardness could be measured, and that

and

far

educational

from being

unanimous,

opinion.

its report revealed considerable divergence of

Stating that out of 2399 communities listed, 913 alone

accounted for an estimated population of 11.5 crore, with

the SCs and STs making up another 7 crore, the memorandum

added that if the entire community, barring a few

exceptions, has thus to be treated as backward, the rea 11 y

needy would be swamped by the multitude and hardly

38

any spec1al attention on adequate assistance, nor would such

dispensation fulfill the cond1t1on la1d down in Article 340

of the constitut1on.

The objective of the commiss1on was to find object1ve

tests and by wil 1 c~~ SOClal and educational

backwardness could be measured. The report of the comm1ssion

has not been unan1mous on tillS po1nt. Regarding

acceptance of caste creter1a for backwar-dness, it

is stated,

gt-ea test

"It can not be den1ed that caste system

hinderance in the way of our progress towards

the

was

the

an

egalitarian society and the recognition of the specified

castes as backward may serve to maintain and even perpetuate

the e><isting distinctions on tne basis of castes".

Due to the failure of tile Ka~a Kalelkar Commiss1on to

devise 'positive' and 'workable creteria' otner than caste

failed, in May 1961 the government of lnd1a decided aga1nest

drawing up all India lists of OBCs and e><tending

reservations in its services for any groups other than the

the SCs and STs. Consequently, in August 1961 it informed

state governments that 10 While tile state governments have the

discrition to choose their own criteria for defending

backwardness, in view of the government of India it would be

better to apply economic tests than to go by caste".

ANALYSIS

The commission could not present an unanimous t-epor t.

Five of its members recorded minutes of dissent. Dr. Arup

Singh, Sri Arunagshu De and Sr1 P.G.Shah were opposed to the

39

posts on the oasis of caste. On the other

nand Sri S.O.S. Chaurasia strongly advocated the acceptance

of caste as the cr1ter1on for oackwardness.Srl T. Mariappa·s

minute of dissent was concerned only w1th ~he 1nclus1on of

a couple of castes 1n the l1st of OBCs. Shr1 Kaka Saheb

Kalelkar also opposed the accptQnce of caste as the baSlS

of oackwardness; though ne did not record a formal minute of

dissent. Apart from ~h1s maJor d1fferance of op1n1on, the

commission suffered from metnodolog1cal flows.

The commission did not have any data, particularly on

population, literacy and levels of education and employment

among the different castes/communities,to sustain any of its

terms of reference.

The commission was to the

criteria for identifying socially and educationally bac~wa~d

classes and, in accordance with such cr1teria, to prepare a

list of such classes. The commission did identify such

criteria las given in this chapter) but failed to explain

that how these criteria were applied to identify the 2399

backward classes.

The commission obtained 3414 representations, evidence

of 5636 persons, and 985 replies to its questionnaire from

the t t t l 1. 10 s a e governmen s and the genra pub lC The state

governments pleaded that the relev nt castewise data were

not collected in the 1951 census, while the figures

10 P. Radhakrishnan, Seminar, 373, Nov.

"OBCs and Central 1990, p.23.

Commissions", in

furnished by different castes/communities were a matter of

guesswork and e~aggeration. On its part, the commission did

not make any attempt to collect the relevant data

1ts own surveys either.

through

The commission state wise l1sts are based on the lists

prepared by the ~inistry of iducation for the grant of

scholarships etc to "the other- educationnally backwat-d

comp1led classes'' in 1942. The Ministry of Education, had

these lists on the basis of recommendat1ons received from

the respective state governments. The other figures for the

OBCs, obtained by the commission, is based on the figures

given by the census department. But as the OBCs lists of

these

apart

two departments were not authentic either. However,

from depending on these two departments for their

fiugres and lists, the commission also used the OBCs

arbitrarily drawn up by the state governments.

lists

It is seen that Ministry of Education had prepared its

lists not only without under taking any special survey for

the identification of the backward classes, it was meant

only for other educationally backward classes, and not for

socially and Educationally Backward Classes as contemplated

in Article 340 of the Constitution.

Despite its poor methodology the commission listed as

many as 2399 castes/communities as backward, with 837 of

them as "most backward". It recommended different

percentages of reservation of seats/vacancies in educational

institutions, government services, etc; for the OBCs. For

41

instance, it recommended reservation of at least 25X jobs in

Class I, 33.3Y. in Class II, and 40Y. in Class III and IV for

OBC cand1dates; and 70X seats all techn1cal and

professional inst1tut1ons for OBC students. But 1n absence

of any explanation of the rat1onale for· t1x1ng different

percentages for dlfferent groups of post e~c; the approach

appears somewhat arbltrary.

The real weakness of the report lies 1n ltS internal

contradictions. Five of the comm1ssions's members submltted

their dissenting notes. Of the three who strongly opposed

linking caste with services, one apprehended that far from

freezing, reservat1on would strength caste and social

divisions, retard soc1al cohes1on ana culm1nate in disaster.

Another member fearea that apart from injecting the caste

virus into the body polit1c, reservations will help only the

advanced sections among the backwara. The tn1rd member held

that while caste as a pathological condition of the society

can not be ignored, it should not be allowed to be used as a

source for drawing benefits from the state.

Though the Chairman of the Commission, Kaka Kalelkar,

did not formally submitted a note of dissent; yet he himself

contradicted his report. In his 30 pages forwarding letter

to the president, he himself repudiated the commission's

work; stating that the remedies suggested were worse than

the evi 1 to combat the social problems. He was against

reservation in government services for any community. This

is clear his own words, " I am definitely against

42

reservation in government services for any community for the

simple reason that the services are not meant for the

servants but they are meant for the serv1ce of the society

as a whole ... ". I bel1eve that Class I and Class I I

services, the backward classes w1ll stand to both

morally and materlally, 1f they do not demand a reservation

percentage 1n var1ous vacancies and s1mply rely on the fair

m1ndedness of the admlnistration to use their preference in

favour of the backward classes ....... But ne contr-adicted

himself when he said "following tne analogy of the provet-b

viz; ·use tne thorn to remove a thorn'; we held that

evils of the caste could be removed by measures which

oe considered in terms of caste alone".

the

could

His letter to the president clearly shows the duality

of mind. His contradictory statements weakens the genu1ness

of the Report. A Report so fragmented in its conceptual

design carries within itself the logic for its rejection.

It is not that the kaka Kalelkar Report is devoid of

It has taken the social structure of India

account to solve the problem of backwardness. Dividing other

backward classes into two groups, it recognizes tnat there

are three classes in society <leaving SCs and STs),

classes stand in opposition to the backward classes and the

backward classes are bifurcated into more backward and less

classes. The world Etructure could be ,- ep r-esented

into a diagrammatic form. The d1agram is given on the next

page.

43

FORWARD

INDIAN

CLASSES/

SOCIAL STRUCTURE

~BACKWARD CLASSES

"' SCs

4

l STs

MORE BACKWARD <837 Classes

ot- communities!

I

" SOCIALLY AND EDUCATIO-NALLY BACKWARD CLASSES/ OBCs [Total 2399 classes communities].

I l

BACKWARD CLASSES OR COMMUNITIES

Thus the commission has made it clear tnat there could

not be a homogenous Socially and Educationally Backward

Classes/Communities. There are opposition of interest even

within them, ana to protect the most weaker sect1ons of the

society l t is necessary to indentify them as a separate

class.

regional variat1ons of backward classes. A class which is

backward in one place may not be backward 1n another places.

Hence to incorporate all backward classes/communities in a

pan-Indian list, the commission nas po1nted out 837 classes

or communities as most backward out of the vast list of 2399

SEBCs. The then government real1sed this fact, and being

understood its inabllity to provide assistance to such a

vast group; as it would not have served the poorest among

the bac kwat-ds; the P'-.-:Jb lem of backwardness , so that the

regional variations should be given adequate attention.

Though Kaka Kalelkar Commission could not be

44

1mplementea yet 1t prov1aec a gu1del1ne to the various State

Comm1sslons and the lind Backward Classes Commission of

Indla. it 1ndeed ,-alsea sorrre bas1c 1ssues wh1ch could not be

solved t1ll thlS time.

45