Is this the Mandal Commission moment of the NDA government?

The Union cabinet has approved setting up of National Commission for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes replacing the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC). Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a cabinet meeting on Wednesday and approved amending the Constitution and inserting Article 338B for setting up the new commission.

Is this the Mandal Commission moment of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government? And why does the government want to go into the complex process of amending the constitution to make this change?

Actually, it is the recognition of political reality – that India has sections of the population that are not just socially but educationally backward and have specific existential problems that need to be addressed.

 And this is the government’s way of addressing the grievances of communities such as the Patidars in Gujarat and the Jats in Haryana.

The Patidars or Patels of Gujarat or Patels constitute barely 15 per cent of the state's population but since its formation in 1960, the community has wielded a disproportionate amount of political and financial power. Many argue that by no stretch of imagination can the community be called backward, given the political representation it enjoys: 40 of the 120 BJP MLAs in the state are Patels, including former chief minister Anandiben Patel (seven of her senior cabinet colleagues were Patels).

Social scientist Achyut Yagnik says the main problem is not of resources but of educational opportunities. Reservation levels in education are so high that Patel children find it impossible to enable their children to get a medical college or engineering seat.  Institutions providing technical education make it easier for children to migrate abroad, as well as find jobs locally. But the doors to these are also shut for Patels. The fact that they are poorly represented in these sectors is because the Patels have traditionally chosen to go into business at a young age, instead of pursuing higher studies. And so it is a cycle – because they don’t get admission they go into business – and then they realize that despite money and political power, they are caught in a vicious cycle of educational backwardness.

Not so different is the problem of the Jats. They consider themselves socially backward and educationally deprived. But they are politically powerful. And they cannot be given reservation until someone else’s share is taken away….

This issue is going to be a serious political problem for all governments, not just the BJP one. In fact, so bitter was the agitation in Gujarat that Anandiben Patel lost her job. She can be forgiven for thinking that if the PM had announced this redefinition of the NCBC earlier, maybe the edge could have been taken off the Patel agitation that ended in her replacement….

Now that the Jats have called off their agitation, the union government has bought some time by ordering a change in the way the Backward Classes commission will look at demands of castes which consider themselves not just socially but also educationally backward. But the target is Gujarat which is due to have assembly elections later this year and Haryana which will see elections in 2019.

It is tempting to see only political motives in the change in the terms of reference of the NCBC once the constitutional amendment bill is passed. But it is a late, late, recognition of the reality – that educational backwardness exists – and is a function of social backwardness.

The PM’s move is strongly reminiscent of the adoption of the Mandal Commission report by the Janata Dal government in 1989 that implemented reservation of government jobs for backward classes. In his Independence Day speech on 15 August 1990,  then Prime Minister VP Singh explained why: ‘We believe that no section can be uplifted merely by money. They can develop only if they have a share in power and we are prepared to provide this share. In this year of justice, in memory of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar the government has recently taken a decision to give reservation to the backward classes in jobs in government and public sector. It is being debated as to how many persons would get benefit out of it. In a sense, taking into account the population of this country, the government jobs account for only one per cent and out of this one per cent if one fourth is given to anyone, it cannot be a course for this economic betterment though it may have some effect. But our outlook is clear.
Bureaucracy is an important organ of the power structure. It has a decisive role in decision-making. We want to give an effective [sic] here in the power structure and running of the country to the depressed, downtrodden and backward people”.

There was a rush to be included as a backward class. Set up in 1993, the NCBC was entrusted with examining requests for inclusion of any class of citizens as a backward class in the lists and hear complaints of over-inclusion or under-inclusion of any backward class in such lists and advice central government on the matter.

Now, the demand is not for jobs alone. It is for inclusion in government-run educational centres as well.