Tamil Nadu's Plea on 50% OBC Quota

IN NEWS

• The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the interim prayer of Tamil Nadu and the AIADMK party for grant of 50% quota in medical seats surrendered by the state in all India quotas for under graduate, post graduate and dental courses for the 2020-21 academic year.

ABOUT

• Tamil Nadu government, ruling AIADMK and the DMK had moved the top court after the Centre had said that it was not possible to extend 50% OBC reservation this year.
• The high court had held that on principle there is no legal or constitutional impediment for extending the benefit of reservation to OBC in the state surrendered AIQ seats of the UG/PG medical courses in the state-run medical colleges within Tamil Nadu, subject to any further directions or orders of the apex court.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

• William Hunter and Jyotibarao Phule in 1882 originally seeded the idea of caste-based reservation system in that time period.
• The reservation system was introduced in 1933 when British Prime-Minister Ramsay Macdonald presented the ‘Communal Award’ during pre-independence struggle. The award made provision for separate electorates for Muslims, Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo-Indians, Europeans and the Dalits.
• After long negotiations over dispute on reservation, Gandhi and Ambedkar signed the ‘Poona Pact’, where it was concluded that there would be a single Hindu electorate with certain reservations in it.
• Post-independence, initially reservations were provided only for SCs and STs.
• OBCs were included under the umbrella of reservation in 1991 on the recommendations of the Mandal Commission.
• In the Indra Sawhney Case of 1992, the Supreme Court while upholding the 27 percent quota for backward classes struck down the government notification reserving 10% government jobs for economically backward classes among the higher castes.
• Apex Court in the same case also laid that at no point should the reservation exceeds 50%.