30 Years of Mandal Commission recommendations : How it began and its Impact

 

Thirty years ago, on August 7, 1990, the then Prime Minister, Vishwanath Pratap Singh, announced that Other Backward Classes (OBCs) would receive 27 per cent reservation for jobs in central government services and public sector units. This would take the total number of reservations for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to 49 per cent.

The decision was based on a report submitted on 31 December, 1980 that recommended reservations for OBCs not just in government jobs but also central education institutions. This was perhaps the world largest affirmative action programme.

 

The decision changed Caste's narrative, which had been the basis of unbridled torture and ostracization, into a social justice instrument. It also opened up a Pandora's Box.  

Read this Also: Government Approved a new National Education Policy (NEP) 2020

 

Background of OBCs Reservation

After India gained independence, affirmative action began for the ‘Depressed Classes’ or the Scheduled Castes and Tribes that provided benefits for the most backward and socially ostracized communities of India.

Establishing First Backward Classes Commission OR Kalelkar Commission: In 1953, under the Jawahar Lal Nehru government, Country's first Backward Classes Commission was set up, headed by social reformer Kaka Kalelkar, to address this issue. That was also known as the Kalelkar Commission.

In 1955, the commission submitted its report stating there were 2399 backward groups in India out of which 837 were 'most backward' and caste was cited as the major evidence of backwardness. However, the report was never implemented.

 

Establishing Second Backward Class Commission OR Mandal Commission: The Mandal Commission, officially known as the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes Commission (SEBC), was created by the Indian Government under the then Prime Minister Morarji Desai on 1st January, 1979.

Government chose Bindeshwari Prasad Mandal, a former chief minister of Bihar, to head the Second Backward Class Commission. So, it was called Mandal Commission.

Mandal Commission submitted its report two years later, on 31st December, 1980.

The Commission developed 11 criteria for identifying the classes that were called ‘OBCs’ (Other Backward Classes). The parameters are listed as social, educational and cultural.

 

Mandal Commission Recommendations

The Commission recommended that members of OBCs be given 27% reservations for jobs under the Central government and public sector undertakings.

Reservations for SCs and STs were already 22.5 per cent. Thus, the reservation figure for OBCs was capped at 27 per cent which would be below the 50 per cent mark if added to the already existing reservation. The Commission also identified Non-Hindus backward classes.

 

 

Mandal Commission: Implementation & Impact

The then Prime Minister VP Singh announced in Parliament in 1990, that the Mandal Commission's recommendations would be implemented.

 

Soon after Prime Minister’s announcement, protests rocked the country. These anti-Mandal Violent protests ensued in northern and western India. Many students immolated themselves in protest and a few of them died as well.

According to historian Ramachandra Guha, nearly 200 students self-immolated in these protests, of which more than 60 succumbed to their injuries, he wrote in his book ‘India After Gandhi’.

 

Following the severe opposition the issue of OBCs reservation reached the Supreme Court in 1992. This case is known as ‘Indira Sawhney Judgment’ or Mandal Case. The Supreme Court upheld OBC 's 27 percent reservation but also stated that the only caste was not an indicator of backwardness in social and educational matters. It said that the ‘creamy layer’ among the OBCs should not be the beneficiaries of the reservations.

 

It faced mainly opposition on two grounds, that reservation would compromise the merit and can the reservation be given on economic lines.

 

The policy of reservation has caused the resentment of those communities which did not have a share in the reservation.

 

The recommendations for OBCs reservation in central government institutions was finally implemented in 1992 while the education quota came into force in 2006.

 

Conclusion

However, only half of the commission's recommendations have been implemented. The commission held that reservations along with all financial aid will remain mere palliatives unless the backwardness problem is addressed at its root. Consequently, it recommended land redistribution and change in production relations.

 

Implementation of recommendations from the Mandal Commission empowered communities. But the present reservation architecture needs a review, with the goal of creating a just, inclusive and equal society, without pandering to populist movements.

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Government approved a new National Education Policy (NEP) 2020

 

On 29th July, 2020, the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 was announced by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (soon to be called the Ministry of Education).

 

The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 will replace the National Policy on Education, 1986. 

 

The NEP 2020 sets for itself the goal of transforming the system to meet the needs of 21st Century India.

 

According to Higher Education Secretary Amit Khare, “There are over 100 action points from the Policy. Implementation will be done in phases, based on time, region and types of institutions with Institutes of Eminence (IoEs) and Central Universities taking the lead”. 

 

The NEP 2020 is the first omnibus policy, a 34-year gap, after the one issued in 1986, and it has to contend with multiple crises in the system. 

 

The policy is meant to transform the education system by 2040.

Key proposals of NEP 2020

For School Education :

The NEP proposes to change the school curricular structure from the current 10+2 (Class 1-10 of general education followed by two years of higher secondary school with specialised subjects) with a 5+3+3+4 structure, like -

 

 (i) five years of foundational stage (for ages 3 to 8);

(ii) three years of preparatory stage (for ages 8 to 11 or classes three to five);

(iii) three years of middle stage (for ages 11 to 14 or classes six to eight), and

(iv) four years of secondary stage (for ages 14 to 18 or classes 9 to 12).

 

A mission for foundational literacy and numeracy, free breakfasts being added to free lunches in government schools, vocational education along with internships from Class 6, and proposed redesign of the board examinations are some other major initiatives for school education.

 

The new policy seeks rectification of poor literacy and numeracy outcomes associated with primary schools, reduction in dropout levels in middle and secondary schools and adoption of the multi-disciplinary approach in the higher education system.

 

Curriculum load in each subject should be reduced to its essential core content to allow for critical thinking, discussion and analysis based learning.

 

A new and comprehensive national curricular framework for school education will be undertaken by NCERT in accordance with these principles.  This framework can be revisited every five to ten years.

 

A 10-day bagless period sometime during Grades 6-8 to intern with local vocational experts such as carpenters, gardeners, potters, artists, etc. Vocational courses through online mode will also be made available.

 

For Higher Education:

A new umbrella regulator has been proposed with separate verticals for regulation, standard setting, accreditation and funding.

 

It will absorb arts and science, technical and teacher education into its fold, replacing several existing regulatory bodies.

 

The NEP aims to increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education to 50% by 2035 (GER was 26.3% in 2018).

All higher education institutions (HEIs) will be restructured into three categories:

(i) Research universities focusing equally on research and teaching;

(ii) Teaching universities focusing primarily on teaching, and

(iii) Degree granting colleges primarily focused on undergraduate teaching.

 

By 2030, there should be one multidisciplinary HEI in, or near every district.

 

For students, the biggest change may be the introduction of four-year undergraduate degrees, with more flexible and multiple exit options with appropriate certification, a credit transfer system, and the abolition of the M Phil programme.

 

Foreign Universities from among the top 100 in the world will be allowed to set up campuses in India.

 

This will lead to an infusion of international perspective and innovation, which will make the Indian education system more efficient and competitive.

 

 

Significance of NEP 2020:

• In adopting a 5+3+3+4 model for school education starting at age 3, the policy recognises the primacy of the formative years from ages 3 to 8 in shaping the child’s future.

• The NEP 2020 proposes the extension of the Right to Education (RTE) to all children up to the age of 18.

• Another key aspect of school education in the new policy is the breaking of the strict division of arts, commerce and science streams in high school.

• Bag-less days will be encouraged throughout the year for various types of enrichment activities involving arts, quizzes, sports, and vocational crafts.

• The NEP 2020 aims to ensure that at-least 50% of learners in school and higher education should be exposed to vocational education by 2025.

• Curriculum content will be reduced in each subject to its core essentials, and make space for critical thinking and more holistic, inquiry-based, discovery-based, discussion-based, and analysis-based learning.

• It emphasises on making mother tongue, local language or the regional language the medium of instruction at least till Grade 5, which is considered the best medium of teaching.

 

 

Some Issues Related to NEP 2020

• There is a persistent mismatch between the knowledge & skills imparted and the jobs available. This has been one of the main challenges that have affected the Indian education system since Independence.

• In a federal system, any educational reform can be implemented only with support from the States, and the Centre has the giant task of building a consensus on the many ambitious plans. The policy, inter alia, aims to eliminate problems of pedagogy, structural inequities, access asymmetries and rampant commercialisation.

• The policy also says that wherever possible, the medium of instruction in schools until at least Class 5, but preferably until Class 8 and beyond, will be the home language or mother tongue or regional language. This is a long-held view, and has its merits, although in a large and diverse country where mobility is high, the student should have the option to study in the language that enables a transfer nationally. English has performed that role due to historical factors.

• An ambitious target of public spending at 6% of GDP has been set.

• Mobilising financial resources will be a big challenge, given the low tax-to-GDP ratio and competing claims on the national exchequer of healthcare, national security and other key sectors.

 

 

Way Forward

There is a need for the creation of ‘inclusion funds’ to help socially and educationally disadvantaged children pursue education.

 

The state needs to address the striking disparities in access to digital tools for universalization of education.

 

There is an emphasis on vocational training, but to make it effective, there has to be close coordination between the education, skills and labour ministry.

 

Conclusion

The intent of policy seems to be ideal in many ways but it is the implementation where lies the key to success.

 

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