Telangana: Backward Classes Commission has tough task on hand

Hyderabad: The Backward Classes Commission constituted by the state government a few months ago is facing an increasing number of demands from the community.

Besides, a case is pending before the High Court questioning the validity of appointing social activist B.S. Ramulu as chairman of the commission instead of the usual practice of appointing a former judge.

This comes as the panel is busy preparing a report that takes into account the enhancement of reservations for backward Muslim groups from four per cent to anywhere between 9 and 12 per cent as recommended by the Sudheer Committee.

There are several issues where the opinion or recommendation of the commission is required. For example, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has decided to create a group ‘most backward castes’ among the existing recognised BCs.

The CM even announced the creation of a separate corporation for MBCs.
Only the BC Commission is empowered to make recommendations to identify who is the most backward among the BCs. To create a new group of MBCs from the 125 Backward Castes, in addition to the existing four BC groups, is going to be problematic.

The panel is empowered to look into any issue concerning BCs, including deletion of castes from existing groups, inclusion of castes, and changing castes from one group to another.

“If we say these are MBCs and they require a sub-quota within the overall quota, there will be resentment from other BCs,” said a member of the commission. Unless it determines who falls in the Most Backward Castes, it won’t be possible to extend any benefits to them by the new corporation.

When Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy was the CM, he had promised to change the Mudiraj community — the largest among BC castes — which was in the BC-D group to BC-A and issued orders. This was challenged and quashed by the High Court.

The government appealed in the Supreme Court, which ruled that any inclusion or deletion or change of group should be done on the recommendation of the BC Commission.

The MBC group has been created and given 20 per cent reservation in Tamil Nadu, besides 30 per cent for other BCs, to make the total BC quota 50 per cent within the total 69 per cent reservation.

Before he entered into an alliance with the Samajwadi Party, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi had, in October 2016, promised to create an MBC quota in Uttar Pradesh because he said only Yadavs were getting major benefits.

The BCs, excluding backward Muslims, constitute 52 per cent of the state’s population and get 25 per cent reservations. Mr Rao had announced that he would consider increasing the quota for them.

Justice D. Subramanyam, who headed the BC Commission in 2010, had said it would decide on the demand for the increase. Various BC organisations have appealed to the commission to increase the overall quota, as the 25 per cent quota fixed in 1969 has remained unchanged over the last 50 years.

Any increase of the quota will be subject to scrutiny by the BC Commission and then go for judicial review as it will exceed the 50 per cent quota cap decided by the Supreme Court in 1992 in the famous Indira Sawhney case.

The deletion of 26 castes from different BC groups in 2014 by the TRS government after bifurcation, on the grounds that they were not predominant in TS and belong to residuary AP, without referring the matter to the BC Commission, was criticised by the AP High Court which quashed the GO.

The government appealed the order, which is now with the Supreme Court. It is most likely the matter will be referred to the BC Commission for its recommendation.