Panel for categorising OBCs seeks 10th extension

New Delhi: The exercise to subcategorise OBCs for better distribution of reservation in education and jobs is likely to be delayed, with the Justice G Rohiniled committee seeking its 10th extension for completing the task.

The panel has to complete the exercise of identifying castes, communities, sub-castes and their synonyms in the Central list of OBCs and classify them into respective sub-categories, it said in its request to the government. The five-member panel was given its last extension in June. The Cabinet had then extended its tenure till January 2021. As per sources, the panel has now sought another extension saying it has received opinion from states but is still cleaning the central list, which would be the basis of subcategorisation. The government had entrusted the panel with the task of examining the extent of inequitable distribution of benefits of reservation amongst castes, communities included in the broad OBC category.

At present, there is no sub-categorisation and 27% quota is distributed among 2,633 castes. The Cabinet would take a decision on extension in January. For the Centre, sub-categorisation would be a contentious decision, especially when assembly polls in Kerala and Bengal are scheduled for next year. As per the social justice ministry statistics, OBCs comprise 65.3% of population in Kerala and 8.7% in Bengal.