The fit-st all India Backwat-d Classes Comm1ssion was
1 appointed by the pres1dent of India on 29th January
which was formally 1naugrated on the 18th March 1953.
. . 2 commission was cha1red by Kaka Saheb Kalelkar .
1 t tooK two complete years to prepare tne Heport.
1953,
The
1ne
commission subm1tted the Report on the 30th March 1~~5. It
prepared a 11st,conta1n1ng as many as 2399 commun1t1es which
well treated as Soc1ally and Educationally Backward out of
these communities 913 alone had estimate~ population of one
hundred and fifteen millions. The report made it clear that
the problem of Backward classes was essentially the problem
of rural I · 3 A . 1 nd1a . ccord1ng to 1t the re evant factors to
consider in classifying backward classes, would be their
traditional occupation or profession, the percentage of
literacy or general educational advancement, made by them,
the estimated population of the community and the
distribution of the various communities through aut the
state or their concentration in certain areas. The
commission also thought that the social position which a
community occupies in the caste hlerarchy,would also have to
be considered as well as its representation in Government
service or in the industrial sphere.
1. The president may appoint a commission to investlgate the condition of backward classes according to the Article 340 of the Indian constitution.
2.
3.
The commission consisted of eleven members chairman. Vide :- Notification No. 70/53, Home Affairs, dt.29th Jan.l953. Vide :- Backward classes commission's Vol.!, p.55.
29
including the Ministry of
Repor-t ( 1953)
The report marked a considerable divergence of openion
among its members. The commiss1on also failed to specify
any objective tests to define 'backwardness'.
Though the commission had considered several
1n determ1nat1on of oackward classes, yet l t
finally decided to treat caste as an impor~ant factor for
that. The commission pl-epared a list
- - 4 commun1t1es on the basis of caste for which the
. 5 had reservat1ons He was himself shocked by the
oackwal-d
cha1rman
decis1on
of the report. He concluded that the remedies, suggested by
the commission were worse than the evil, 1t was out
6 flght The chairman expressed his deep distress in
to
very
strong language over the caste as the oas1s accepted by the
commission. He suggested that "1f we eschew the p r- inc i p l e
of caste, it would be poss1ble to help the extremely poor
and deserving from all communities. Care however, having
taken to give preference to those who
traditionally neglected social classes7
"
TERMS OF REFERENCE~
come from the
The terms of refrence of the commission as anounced in
4 See Volume II of the Report of the first Backward Classes Commission, 1953.
5 In his covering letter to the president, the Chairman of the Commission,Kaka Saheb kalelkar, wrote in a spirited manner "My eyes were however, opened to the dangers of suggesting remedies on caste basis when l discovered that it is going to have a most unhealthy effect to the Muslim and christian sections of the nation." Letter to the president of India, dated March 30,1955.
6 Ibid, para 21. 7 Ibid, para 22. 8 The Backward Classes Commission Report, 1955, pp.2.
30
the notification are :-
The Backward classes commission shall
a. determine the criter1a to be adopted in cons1der1ng
whether any sections of the people 1n the terr1tory of India
<in addition to the scheduled castes and scheduled Tr1bes
specif1ed by notif1cation issued under Art1cle 341 and 342
of the constitution> should be treated as SOClally and
educationally backward classes,and ,in accordance with such
criteria, prepare a list of such classes setting out also
their approximate numbers and their territor1al
dlstribution;
b. 1nvest1gate the con01t1ons ot all such socially and
educationally backward classes and the difficulties under
which they labour; and make recommendations . -. (i) as to the steps that should be taken by the union or any
state to remove such difficult1es to improve their
condition; and
Cii) as to the grants that should be made for the purpose by
the union or any state and the conditions subject to which
such grants should be made;
c. investigate such other matters as the president may here
after refer to them ; and
d. present to the president a report setting out the facts
as found by them and making such reccommendations as they •
think proper.
As far as the term of reference was concerned other
Backward classes were the main subject of the
31
COfTI!TilSSlOn. l::.ven gave a. pB-i;lent
hear· 1 ng
let tr·,em ·'· ' . ·. ·. T: .:..:: ; . (_. ·,-, ....
The commission drew an exhaust1ve quest1onnaire of
nearly 200 questions under 2~ subheads; namely, criteria,
rev1sion of lists, populat1on, occupat1ons, trade and
profess1ons; polltical; economic; SOClai; educatlonal;
services; labour; agriculture; housing; health and
sanitation, culture, arts and crafts; manners and customs,
pr-ohibition, social disabalities, explo1tation; welfare;
agencies serving backward classes; communi~y proJects; ex-
c r- imina 1 tr-ibes; scheduled and scheduled tr-1bes;
9 scheduled castes and advanced classes .
It shows that the comm1ss1on was well aware of the
social problems and Indian soc1a1 reality. I~ is, therefore,
the commission had taken an exhaustive questionnaire into
account. The commiss1on has ~nalyzed various aspects of the
Indian society to reach to a conclusion. All these aspects
have been taken to determine the criteria of backwardness.
The commission had taken the following criter1a
identifying the socially and educatioally Backwar-d classes:-
<i> Low social position, in the traditional caste hierachy
of Hindu society.
(li) lack of general educational advancement among the major
section of a caste or community.
9 The Backward Classes Commission Report 1955. Appendix II p. v.
32
tili) inadequate 0'}"1 "fl•:l r-epresentation in Government service.
( i v) inadequate representation in the field of trade,
commerce and lndustry.
On the basis
commission prepareo
+" 0.
a
the above ment1oneo
11st of 2399 bacKward classes
communities for the ent1re country out of which 837 wer-e
classified as ·most backward' .Thecomm1ssion also suggested
wide ranging and comprehens1ve measures to up l1 f t the
backward classes.
The recommendations are related to the different
spheres of life, for~; polit1cal, economic and industrial,
land policy, development at l1ve stock, development of
industries and handicrafts, rural development, SOCial and
educational development, reservat1ons in jobs etc. Some of
its important recommendations are
<a> Social backwardness and measures for its removal
<i> A clear enunciation and effective implementation of the
policy of soc1al solidarity and national progress.
(ii> Necessary legislation on marriage and jnheritancc laws.
(iii> prohibition by law of social disabilities.
( i v) Arrangements for the production and dis t ,- i but ion of
literature on social problems.
<v> Liberal use of the press, films, platforms and radio for
the removal of social evils.
<vi) prohibition of all observances tending to promote caste
feelings in government activities.
<vii) Re-organigation of the educat1onal system w1th special
emphasis on the dign1ty of manual labour.
(Vill) Full assistance to promote education as speedily as
possible among the backward classes.
( i X ) Adequate representation 1n government; serv1ces and
gover-nment lndust~ia.l establishments of those
sections who had no chance so far.
(X) Encouragement literature, spec1al cultural
and assistance and promot1on of cult;ural activities
with th1s social end 1n v1ew.
b. Educational backwardness and measures for 1ts removal:-
The commission listed out 8 causes for the educational
backwardness of the backward classes
( i ) Tradit1onal apathy for educat1on on account of S0Cli3.l
and environmental condit1ons or- occupat1onal handlcaps.
{ i 1 ) poverty and lack of- means of d number of
communities to educate the1r ch11Cren.
<iii) lack of educational institutions in the rural areas.
( i v) 1 i vi ng in inaccessible areas and lack of proper
communications.
<v> lack of adequate educational aids in form of freeships,
scholarships, and monetary grants for the purchase of books
and clothing. •
(vi ) lack of residential hostel facilities in places where
educa~t1onal institutions are situated.
<vii> unemployment among the ed~cated acting as a damper on
the desire of some of the communities to educate their
children.
34
{VlllJ Uef ect1ve educational system which does not train
students for appropriate occupations and social possessions.
To solve the above problems, the commission recommended
immediate introduct1on of free and compulsory education
forthe age group 6-14.
Immediate conversion of ex1st1ng elementary schools and
establistment of only bas1c schools where ever there are no
schools. The teachers for the cas1c schools shoula be drawn
from the artisan and occupational communities. They must be
trained in general education and then posted as teachers.
Non-communal hostels should be established and the cost
of board and lodging for the poorer section of the
classes should borne by the Government.
backward
Samata-Ashram schools should be established in which
teachers with their families live with the students.
There is a need to establ1sh secondary schools 1n rural
areas. Basic rural universities should come up. The present
day universities should confine themselves to technical
education and research.
The poor students of the backward classes should be
given liberal scholarships and certain percentage of seats
should be reserved for the backward classes studens. In all
science, engineering, medicine, agriculture, veterinary and
other technical and technological institutions, a resevation
of 70% of seats should be made for qualified students of
backward castes till such time as recommodation is provided
for all the students eligible for admission. The remaining
35
30% as also all seats unava1led of by backward classes
should go to the rest of the students.
c. Resevation of OBCs in Government serv1ce,central and
states
AccOl-d i ng to tne comm1ss1on, prestige,power and
1nfluence, seaLes of pay, secur1ty of employment ano scope
to distt-lbute patronage all tnese nave mace government
service attractive. So claims of OBL.s for adequate
t-epcesenta t ion 1n serv1ce snould be ,-ecogn1zed by
providing reservation of definite quota of vacancies 1n
each class.
To lessen tile kin desire for Government services on
the part of the OBCs. One way lS to render them as
unattract1ve as possible oy reducing tile emoluments attacned
to them social justice and communal harmony bot!\ demand
that the present alarm1ng d1sparity between tne scales of
pay of the lowest and the highest appointments should be
,-educed. As an immediate step, the ratio between the
emoluments of the lowest and those of the highest paid
persons may be reduced to 1: 20 . But this ratio must be
ultimately brought down to 1:10.
Keeping in view the necessity for maintaining high
administrative effic1ency in conjuction with social justice
to all sections of the population, best CQJididates should
,as a rule, be recruited by means of a competitive
examination without any regard to caste considerations. Even
in the sector of resevation, the best amongst the qualified
36
backward classes should be recruited.
The commission suggested that In all and
local body services, the minimum bases of representation of
oBcs should be as follows
class I 25'l. of vacanc1es
class II 33 - 1/3 % of vacanc1es
class III
class IV ~OX of vacanc1es.
Th1s percentage would be over and above that which has
already been conceded by government in case of SCs and
STs.
At the end of 10 years the adequacy of rept-esentat ion
of OBCs should oe reviewed in the !ight of statistics then
available as a result of the 1961 or earlier census which
may contain all commun1ties listed by the commiss1on in
the OBCs group.
d. Ministry for the advancement of backward classes :-
The commiss1on suggested that a new ministry should be
created both at the centre and in the states similar tc the
Ministry of Rehabilitation to handle in an effective manner
the problems for the advancement of backward classes and
also anti-social elements fostet- i ng
disruptive tendencies among the backward classes by
exploiting discontent among them. Its special functions
should be related to :-
all educational problems
rural housing scheme
37
representation in services under government and
local bodies
administrat1on of grants for welfare measures
prov1sion of full employment in rural areas
draw1ng up scllemes for the advancement
backward classes
prov1s1on of adequate f1nance for
implementat1on of schemes.
of
Thus, tile commission presented an 1deal solut1on to the
problem of backwardness w1th a prctical problem to the
determination of criteria to indent1fy the OBCs.
THE GOVERNMENT ACTION
The memorandum on the commission's report, la1d before
the parliament <along with tile report) 1n september 1956, by
G.B.Pant , Minister for Home Affairs, was lligllly cr-itical.
Among other things, it stated that for tile inquiry
contemplated
indisputable
in Article 340, the commission had
yardsticks by which social
to find
backwardness could be measured, and that
and
far
educational
from being
unanimous,
opinion.
its report revealed considerable divergence of
Stating that out of 2399 communities listed, 913 alone
accounted for an estimated population of 11.5 crore, with
the SCs and STs making up another 7 crore, the memorandum
added that if the entire community, barring a few
exceptions, has thus to be treated as backward, the rea 11 y
needy would be swamped by the multitude and hardly
38
any spec1al attention on adequate assistance, nor would such
dispensation fulfill the cond1t1on la1d down in Article 340
of the constitut1on.
The objective of the commiss1on was to find object1ve
tests and by wil 1 c~~ SOClal and educational
backwardness could be measured. The report of the comm1ssion
has not been unan1mous on tillS po1nt. Regarding
acceptance of caste creter1a for backwar-dness, it
is stated,
gt-ea test
"It can not be den1ed that caste system
hinderance in the way of our progress towards
the
was
the
an
egalitarian society and the recognition of the specified
castes as backward may serve to maintain and even perpetuate
the e><isting distinctions on tne basis of castes".
Due to the failure of tile Ka~a Kalelkar Commiss1on to
devise 'positive' and 'workable creteria' otner than caste
failed, in May 1961 the government of lnd1a decided aga1nest
drawing up all India lists of OBCs and e><tending
reservations in its services for any groups other than the
the SCs and STs. Consequently, in August 1961 it informed
state governments that 10 While tile state governments have the
discrition to choose their own criteria for defending
backwardness, in view of the government of India it would be
better to apply economic tests than to go by caste".
ANALYSIS
The commission could not present an unanimous t-epor t.
Five of its members recorded minutes of dissent. Dr. Arup
Singh, Sri Arunagshu De and Sr1 P.G.Shah were opposed to the
39
posts on the oasis of caste. On the other
nand Sri S.O.S. Chaurasia strongly advocated the acceptance
of caste as the cr1ter1on for oackwardness.Srl T. Mariappa·s
minute of dissent was concerned only w1th ~he 1nclus1on of
a couple of castes 1n the l1st of OBCs. Shr1 Kaka Saheb
Kalelkar also opposed the accptQnce of caste as the baSlS
of oackwardness; though ne did not record a formal minute of
dissent. Apart from ~h1s maJor d1fferance of op1n1on, the
commission suffered from metnodolog1cal flows.
The commission did not have any data, particularly on
population, literacy and levels of education and employment
among the different castes/communities,to sustain any of its
terms of reference.
The commission was to the
criteria for identifying socially and educationally bac~wa~d
classes and, in accordance with such cr1teria, to prepare a
list of such classes. The commission did identify such
criteria las given in this chapter) but failed to explain
that how these criteria were applied to identify the 2399
backward classes.
The commission obtained 3414 representations, evidence
of 5636 persons, and 985 replies to its questionnaire from
the t t t l 1. 10 s a e governmen s and the genra pub lC The state
governments pleaded that the relev nt castewise data were
not collected in the 1951 census, while the figures
10 P. Radhakrishnan, Seminar, 373, Nov.
"OBCs and Central 1990, p.23.
Commissions", in
furnished by different castes/communities were a matter of
guesswork and e~aggeration. On its part, the commission did
not make any attempt to collect the relevant data
1ts own surveys either.
through
The commission state wise l1sts are based on the lists
prepared by the ~inistry of iducation for the grant of
scholarships etc to "the other- educationnally backwat-d
comp1led classes'' in 1942. The Ministry of Education, had
these lists on the basis of recommendat1ons received from
the respective state governments. The other figures for the
OBCs, obtained by the commission, is based on the figures
given by the census department. But as the OBCs lists of
these
apart
two departments were not authentic either. However,
from depending on these two departments for their
fiugres and lists, the commission also used the OBCs
arbitrarily drawn up by the state governments.
lists
It is seen that Ministry of Education had prepared its
lists not only without under taking any special survey for
the identification of the backward classes, it was meant
only for other educationally backward classes, and not for
socially and Educationally Backward Classes as contemplated
in Article 340 of the Constitution.
Despite its poor methodology the commission listed as
many as 2399 castes/communities as backward, with 837 of
them as "most backward". It recommended different
percentages of reservation of seats/vacancies in educational
institutions, government services, etc; for the OBCs. For
41
instance, it recommended reservation of at least 25X jobs in
Class I, 33.3Y. in Class II, and 40Y. in Class III and IV for
OBC cand1dates; and 70X seats all techn1cal and
professional inst1tut1ons for OBC students. But 1n absence
of any explanation of the rat1onale for· t1x1ng different
percentages for dlfferent groups of post e~c; the approach
appears somewhat arbltrary.
The real weakness of the report lies 1n ltS internal
contradictions. Five of the comm1ssions's members submltted
their dissenting notes. Of the three who strongly opposed
linking caste with services, one apprehended that far from
freezing, reservat1on would strength caste and social
divisions, retard soc1al cohes1on ana culm1nate in disaster.
Another member fearea that apart from injecting the caste
virus into the body polit1c, reservations will help only the
advanced sections among the backwara. The tn1rd member held
that while caste as a pathological condition of the society
can not be ignored, it should not be allowed to be used as a
source for drawing benefits from the state.
Though the Chairman of the Commission, Kaka Kalelkar,
did not formally submitted a note of dissent; yet he himself
contradicted his report. In his 30 pages forwarding letter
to the president, he himself repudiated the commission's
work; stating that the remedies suggested were worse than
the evi 1 to combat the social problems. He was against
reservation in government services for any community. This
is clear his own words, " I am definitely against
42
reservation in government services for any community for the
simple reason that the services are not meant for the
servants but they are meant for the serv1ce of the society
as a whole ... ". I bel1eve that Class I and Class I I
services, the backward classes w1ll stand to both
morally and materlally, 1f they do not demand a reservation
percentage 1n var1ous vacancies and s1mply rely on the fair
m1ndedness of the admlnistration to use their preference in
favour of the backward classes ....... But ne contr-adicted
himself when he said "following tne analogy of the provet-b
viz; ·use tne thorn to remove a thorn'; we held that
evils of the caste could be removed by measures which
oe considered in terms of caste alone".
the
could
His letter to the president clearly shows the duality
of mind. His contradictory statements weakens the genu1ness
of the Report. A Report so fragmented in its conceptual
design carries within itself the logic for its rejection.
It is not that the kaka Kalelkar Report is devoid of
It has taken the social structure of India
account to solve the problem of backwardness. Dividing other
backward classes into two groups, it recognizes tnat there
are three classes in society <leaving SCs and STs),
classes stand in opposition to the backward classes and the
backward classes are bifurcated into more backward and less
classes. The world Etructure could be ,- ep r-esented
into a diagrammatic form. The d1agram is given on the next
page.
43
FORWARD
INDIAN
CLASSES/
SOCIAL STRUCTURE
~BACKWARD CLASSES
"' SCs
4
l STs
MORE BACKWARD <837 Classes
ot- communities!
I
" SOCIALLY AND EDUCATIO-NALLY BACKWARD CLASSES/ OBCs [Total 2399 classes communities].
I l
BACKWARD CLASSES OR COMMUNITIES
Thus the commission has made it clear tnat there could
not be a homogenous Socially and Educationally Backward
Classes/Communities. There are opposition of interest even
within them, ana to protect the most weaker sect1ons of the
society l t is necessary to indentify them as a separate
class.
regional variat1ons of backward classes. A class which is
backward in one place may not be backward 1n another places.
Hence to incorporate all backward classes/communities in a
pan-Indian list, the commission nas po1nted out 837 classes
or communities as most backward out of the vast list of 2399
SEBCs. The then government real1sed this fact, and being
understood its inabllity to provide assistance to such a
vast group; as it would not have served the poorest among
the bac kwat-ds; the P'-.-:Jb lem of backwardness , so that the
regional variations should be given adequate attention.
Though Kaka Kalelkar Commission could not be
44