Union Cabinet on 30 January 2014 gave its
approval for making amendments in the Central List of Other Backward Classes
(OBCs) in 13 states and three Union Territories. The amendments have been done
by way of inclusion/correction/deletion of castes/communities as per the
advices received from the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC). 115
changes will be notified by the amendments, which were recommended by the NCBC.
The three Union Territories are Chandigarh, Delhi and Puducherry and the 13
states include
• Andhra Pradesh
• Bihar
• Goa
• Himachal Pradesh
• Jharkhand
• Karnataka
• Kerala
• Maharashtra
• Punjab
• Tamil Nadu
• Uttarakhand
• Uttar Pradesh
• West Bengal
The amendments introduced in the OBCs central
list enable a person who belongs to these castes/communities to avail the
reservation benefits in government services and posts. They are also eligible
in central educational institutions according to existing policies. These will
also be eligible for the benefits under various welfare schemes, scholarships
and others in those, which are being administered by the Central Government
that are available to persons belonging to the OBCs at present.
About National Commission
for Backward Classes (NCBC)
The Government of India enacted the National
Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993 for setting up a National Commission
for Backward Classes at the Centre as a permanent body in pursuant of the direction
of the Supreme Court in the Mandal case
judgement in the Indira Sawhney case.
NCBC Act 1993, Section 9 (Functions of the Commission)
states that
• The Commission shall examine requests for
inclusion of any class of citizens as a backward class in the lists and hear
complaints of over-inclusion or under-inclusion of any backward class in such
lists and tender such advice to the Central Government as it deems appropriate
• The advice of the Commission shall
ordinarily be binding upon the Central Government
The NCBC has been tendering advice to the
Central Government from time to time. In total 30 Notifications have been
issued so far along with 2343 entries (entry means a caste, including its
synonyms, sub-castes) have been notified in the Central list of OBCs for 24
States and six Union Territories.