Jat stir fallout: Govt sets up new Commission with more teeth to look into demands of backward classes

Government has approved setting up of a new National Commission for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (NSEBC) and that would give it constitutional powers. This follows the promises made to the Jat community in negotiationg a settlement between the agitating jats and the government. A Bill to this effect will be introduced in the Parliament, shortly.

Promise to create NSEBC was one of the main promises made to the Jats while asking them to withdraw their planned agitation in Delhi earlier this week. Thousands of people from the community were planning to protest in the Capital from Monday before the government convinced them to suspend their agitation. The government had assured the Jats that the first task NSEBC would take up, after coming into existence, would be to conduct a survey to see if there exists enough “quantifiable data” to justify their claim for OBC status.

The proposed commission will replace the National Commission on Backward Classes that was set up through an Act of Parliament in 1993 following the directions of the Supreme Court. The National Commission on Backward Classes (NCBC) is not a Constitutional body. However, NCBC was also created with the same objective in 1993 on the directions of the Supreme Court but it lacked certain powers that similar commissions for the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes enjoyed. The National Commission on Scheduled Castes and National Commission on Scheduled Tribes are both Constitutional bodies.

Specifically, NCBC was not empowered to act on grievances of OBCs regarding discrimination being faced by them or non-implementation of reservation rules by the government authorities. The growing demand to strengthen the legal foundations of NCBC and bring it at par with its sister bodies on SC STs amd NSEBC is a response to that growing demand.

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While approving the creation of NSEBC, the Cabinet simultaneously gave its consent to the dissolution of NCBC and repeal of the 1993 NCBC Act that created it. The proposed NSEBC, as approved by the Cabinet, would comprise of a chairperson, a vice-chairperson and three other members, a government statement said.

NSEBC is an important body that will recommend the inclusion or exclusion of castes from the list of Other Backward Classes for the purpose of job reservations, is the result of assurances given by the government to Jats, and also Patels who, too, have been demanding quotas for themselves.

While approving the creation of NSEBC, the Cabinet simultaneously gave its consent to the dissolution of NCBC and repeal of the 1993 NCBC Act that created it.The proposed NSEBC, as approved by the Cabinet, would comprise of a chairperson, a vice-chairperson and three other members, a government statement said.