Recently, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government in Odisha has taken three major decisions in ‘favour’ of OBCs, which are bound to have ramifications both on policy and political levels.First, the state assembly amended the functional scope of the Odisha State Commission for Backward Commission (OSCBC) to survey social and educational conditions of the backward classes from time to time, which was not in place earlier.Second, the BJD joined hands with other political parties in exerting pressure on the Union government to enumerate OBCs in the 2021 Census.Third, the BJD announced its decision to reserve 27% of its party candidates in upcoming panchayat elections – due in 2022 – to socially and educationally backward classes (SEBC) in the state.However, what is clearly visible from the above decisions is these 27% reservations do not apply to opportunities in education. The BJD government has deliberately sidelined education from the agenda despite the fact that the status of OBCs in terms of education in the state is depressing. This raises a question as to whether these recent decisions are meant for mere vote-bank politics, driven by tokenism, or do they really show genuine commitment towards the empowerment of the OBCs?Meanwhile, the political narrative favouring 27% reservations to OBCs in Odisha took a different turn since Dharmendra Pradhan, the Union minister of education and one of the OBC faces from Odisha, emerged as the prominent face in Odisha politics. He has launched scathing attacks against the ruling BJD for not implementing 27% reservation to OBCs so far, given that most other states have already done it.Status of OBC reservations across India It has been more than 40 years since the Mandal commission report and 29 years to the Supreme Court judgment validating the V.P. Singh government’s decision to provide 27% reservation to OBCs in education and public sector employment.Currently, there are reservations for OBCs in almost all the states in education and employment. In Tamil Nadu, reservations account for 69% of opportunities, out of which 20% are for Maha Backward Castes (MBC) and 30% for OBCs. Chhattisgarh has 27% reservations for OBCs, and 58% reservations cumulatively. Similarly, Haryana, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra provide more than 50% reservations for SC, ST and OBC sections combined.Also read: Union Govt Announces 27% Quota for OBCs, 10% for EWS in Medical, Dental CoursesFurthermore, there have been 27% reservations to OBCs in education and employment opportunities in the Union government institutions since the 2008-09 academic year.Education among OBCs in OdishaOdisha is not only a poor state nationally but also very unequal in terms of human development. The poverty rate among STs, SCs and OBCs is higher than other forward castes.Poverty headcount ratio of various social groups in Odisha. Source: NITI Aayog, New Delhi and Odisha Economic Survey 2016-17.At every level of education, the net attendance of students from other forward castes is better and above the net state rate. The net attendance ratio among OBC is comparatively better in primary, upper primary, secondary and higher secondary. But, after the higher secondary level, OBCs participation in education is lower than students from other forward castes.Distribution of net attendance in percentage at different levels of education among various social groups. Source: Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Odisha.Besides, in age-specific attendance, the other forward castes performed well at every level of education. At the same time, SCs and STs suffered from the rising age of their students, and to some extent OBCs after the age of 18 years.Age-specific attendance (in percentage) in various educational levels among different social groups. Source: Directorate of Economics and Statistics, Odisha.This shows that the situation of OBCs is not better in terms of education in the state, but the reservations for OBCs/SEBCs in educational institutions are not being implemented. Odisha provides only 11.25% reservation in government employment and the panchayat raj institutions for SEBCs (27% reservation was applicable until the 2017 elections. But, due to a high court judgment, it has been reduced to 11.25% from 2022 panchayat raj elections).That means students from the SEBC/OBC sections in Odisha are being deprived of their rights, while in other states, the same category students enjoy those benefits. At least 2,270 OBC students from Odisha were deprived of reservation at university-level in the ongoing 2021-22 academic year.Also read: OBCs Haven’t Been Counted Since 1931 Census. In Maharashtra, Demand For Separate Column GrowsThe situation is unclear in the degree-level admissions as private colleges also participate in a single admission management system. However, there are a total of 1,024 degree colleges of both public and private, with a total strength of 2,50,051 students in the current academic year.Here, the fundamental question is why can’t the state government make such a provision for SEBC/OBC students in its educational institutions similar to that of Union government institutions and universities, and like many other states. The logic is not sound when there is a reservation provision in the employment and panchayati raj-level institutions but not in educational institutions.Reservation in educational institutions is equally important, like in employment and political representation for the uplift of the SEBC/OBC communities.Thus, it appears that the recommendations of the Mandal Commission for the upliftment of the SEBC/OBC are not implemented in letter and spirit. Therefore, whatever current reservation provisions are in place for SEBC/OBC in employment and public representations, but not in the education sector, is just tokenism and not actual empowerment of the OBC communities.The current decisions concerning OBCs by the BJD government – namely, the amendment in the law governing OSCBC to survey the social and educational conditions of the backward classes, the demand for OBC census, and the decision to earmark 27% seats to OBCs in the panchyat elections – is a clear case of vote-bank politics, driven by tokenism.Deepak Kumar Nanda is a development researcher and PhD scholar at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.
