Concept Breakdown, Issue 14: Mandal Commission, Creamy Layer

Concept Breakdown is a weekly newsletter by The Analysis (TA), explaining technical concepts that are in the news. The newsletter tries to educate readers on these key terms to avoid misinformation and promote informed discussions.

On June 20, the Patna High Court overturned the changes made by the Bihar legislature in 2023 that aimed to increase the reservation for Backward Classes (BC), Extremely Backward Classes (EBC), Scheduled Castes (SC), and Scheduled Tribes (ST) from 50% to 65% in educational institutions and government jobs.??

This move came in the light of?2022 caste survey conducted by the Bihar government.?

It is with this background that we look at two very important concepts related to the policy reservation in India.?

Mandal Commission

The Mandal Commission was set up in 1979, under the chairmanship of VP Mandal. This commission was formed by the Indian government under the then Prime Minister, Morarji Desai to identify the socially and educationally backward classes.

Key points:

• The commission employed 11 social, economic and educational indicators to identify other backward classes (OBCs).
• As per the commission report, 52 percent of the country’s population comprised the other backward classes.
• The commission demanded 52 percent reservation for the OBCs. However, the Supreme Court's landmark ruling in the Indra Sawhney case allowed for a total of 50 percent reservation only, out of which 22.5 percent was already reserved for SC and STs.
• The report recommended reserving 27 percent of the seats in educational institutions and government jobs for OBCs.

Creamy Layer

Concept of creamy layer again emerged in the Indra Sawhney case.?

In 1992, the Supreme Court upheld that those who fall into the “creamy layer” will not get the benefits of reservation.?

This was to ensure that seats are reserved for those who are actually deserving.

The creamy layer meant the population within the OBCs, who were better off socially, economically and educationally. The criteria defining the creamy layer were identified by an expert committee headed by Justice (retired) R N Prasad.

Defining Creamy Layer:

• For those not in government, individuals earning above Rs 8 lakh per annum fall in the creamy layer.
• For the children of government employees, their category depends on the rank their parents hold and not their income.

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