Mandal Commission

The Mandal Commission in India was established in 1979 by the Janata Party government under Prime Minister Morarji Desai with a mandate to "identify the socially or educationally backward."

           It was headed by Indian parliamentarian Bindheshwari Prasad Mandal to consider the question of seat reservations and quotas for people to redress caste discrimination, and used eleven social, economic, and educational indicators to determine "backwardness."


                 In 1980, the commission's report affirmed the affirmative action practice under Indian law whereby members of lower castes (known as Other Backward Classes (OBC) and Scheduled Castes and Tribes) were given exclusive access to a certain portion of government jobs and slots in public universities, and recommended changes to these quotas, increasing them by 27% to 49.5%.

Criteria to identify OBC

                        Social

(i) Castes/classes considered as socially backward by others.

(ii) Castes/classes which mainly depend on manual labour for their livelihood.

(iii) castes/classes where at least 25 per cent females and 10 per cent males above the state average get married at an age below 17 years in rural areas and at least 10 per cent females and 5 per cent males do so in urban areas.

(iv) castes/classes where participation of females in work is at least 25 per cent above the state average.

                                    Educational

(v) Castes/classes where the number of children in the age group of 5–15 years who never attended school is at least 25 per cent above the state average.

(vi) Castes/classes where the rate of student drop-out in the age group of 5–15 years is at least 25 per cent above the state average.

(vii) Castes/classes amongst whom the proportion of matriculates is at least 25 per cent below the state average.

                                     Economic

(viii) Castes/classes where the average value of family assets is at least 25 per cent below the state average.

(ix) Castes/classes where the number of families living in kuccha houses is at least 25 per cent above the state average.

(x) Castes/classes where the source of drinking water is beyond half a kilometer for more than 50 per cent of the households.

(xi) Castes/classes where the number of households having taken consumption loans is at least 25 per cent above the state average.

Also known as "Creamy layer," this criteria of separation is ignored by the government which is known as the most controversial issue of reservation.