Continued…………
The Government of India had appointed the
Second Backward Classes Commission in
1979. It was headed by B.P. Mandal. Hence it
was popularly called the Mandal Commission. It
was asked to determine the criteria to identify
the socially and educationally backward classes
in India and recommend steps to be taken for
their advancement. The Commission gave its
Report in 1980 and made many
recommendations. One of these was that 27 per
cent of government jobs be reserved for the
socially and educationally backward classes.
The Report and recommendations were
discussed in the Parliament.
Several developments took place after that:
For several years, many parliamentarians and parties kept demanding the implementation of
the Commission’s recommendations. Then came the Lok Sabha election of 1989.In its
election manifesto, the Janata Dal promised that if voted to power, it would implement the
Mandal Commission report. The Janata Dal did form the government after this election. Its
leader V. P. Singh became the Prime Minister
The President of India in his address to the Parliament announced the intention of the
government to implement the recommendations of the Mandal Commission. On 6 August
1990, the Union Cabinet took a formal decision to implement the recommendations. Next
day Prime Minister V.P. Singh informed the Parliament about this decision through a
statement in both the Houses of Parliament. The decision of the Cabinet was sent to the
Department of Personnel and Training. The senior officers of the Department drafted an
order in line with the Cabinet decision and took the minister’s approval. An officer signed the
order on behalf of the Union Government. This was how O.M. No. 36012/ 31/90 was born on
13 August 1990.
Continued………..
For the next few months, this was the most hotly debated issue in the country.
Newspapers and magazines were full of different views and opinions on this issue. It
led to widespread protests and counter protests, some of which were violent. People
reacted strongly because this decision affected thousands of job opportunities. Some
felt that existence of inequalities among people of different castes in India necessitated
job reservations. They felt, this would give a fair opportunity to those communities who
so far had not adequately been represented in government employment. Others felt that
this was unfair as it would deny equality of opportunity to those who did not belong to
backward communities. They would be denied jobs even though they could be more
qualified.
Some persons and associations opposed to this order filed a number of cases in the
courts. They appealed to the courts to declare the order invalid and stop its
implementation. The Supreme Court of India bunched all these cases together. This
case was known as the ‘Indira Sawhney and others Vs Union of India case’. Eleven
judges of the Supreme Court heard arguments of both sides. By a majority, the Supreme
Court judges in 1992 declared that this order of the Government of India was valid. At
the same time the Supreme Court asked the government to modify its decision.
