India has witnessed quite a number of protest in the recent years regarding the OBC reservation in the country. Many castes falling under the OBC category has demanded a caste wise reservation within the OBC reservation.
The agitations demanding reservation within reservation carried out by different castes had stalled the nation’s progress, whether it was the movement of Patidar in Gujarat or the Jat movement of Haryana and Rajasthan. These movements not only disturbed the normal lives of the people but also shook the ruling government. Coincidently, BJPwas the ruling party in all the three states when the agitation for reservation broke out.
In such situations, BJP is trying hard to achieve the possibility of pleasing all the castes. The party is aiming that the benefit of reservations given under the OBC quota can be obtained by all the castes.
Regarding the demand of reservation within the reservation, the Modi government at the centre has taken an initiative and thought of forming a commission for the classification of castes in enjoying the benefits of the quota in the central services under the OBC category. This commission, set up by the government, has also got the approval of the cabinet. The central government was receiving complaints from a long time that only a few castes under the OBC category are enjoying the benefits of OBC reservation. Responding to the complaints the government decided to form the committee. This commission will study the OBC reservation and also look for the possibilities of giving quotas within the OBC reservation based on the classification of the castes.
The way of OBC reservation was cleared after accepting the recommendations of the Mandal Commission by the then Prime Minister VP Singh in the 90’s and since then the issue has been the focal point of the nation’s politics. After the implementation of Mandal Commission’s recommendations, 27 percent reservation has been set for OBC. If the Commission, constituted by the government, gives its report on the possibility of making quota within the OBC quota, then it is possible that the domination of some castes on OBC reservation will end and other castes also get benefitted from it. After such a possibility, a limited quota will be determined for those castes who are taking advantage of the OBC quota now and the remaining part will be fixed for the remaining castes.
In Bihar, Nitish Kumar had also taken such a step and had reserved a quota in the quota of Dalit reservation. This quota was then further divided into the Dalit and Mahadalit quota. The BJP-JDU coalition is also being considered to be the BJP’s OBC card, and now by adopting the strategy of Nitish Kumar to add quota within the quota, the party has made it clear that it will not indulge in any kind of laxity for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.