The reservation in government jobs provided to the Christian Nadar community recently by including them on the Other Backward Classes (OBC) list of the State would remain unchanged as the Supreme Court has upheld the State governments’ right to modify the list for providing reservation in employment to State services. Those at the Kerala State Commission for Backward Classes arrived at the conclusion after reviewing the Supreme Court order in the Maratha Reservation Case and evaluating its fallout in the State.
“The apex court order will not have any impact on the Christian Nadar community’s recent inclusion on the OBC list as they would be provided reservation in employment from the general pool of OBCs. The caste-based reservation provided to the communities in the State would not exceed the 50% cap even with their inclusion of the Christian Nadar community on the OBC list. Hence, the Christian Nadar reservation will remain untouched by the apex court order,” said G. Sasidharan, chairman of the commission.
SEBC list
Moreover, the Supreme Court had clarified that the States’ power to make reservations for any community or castes, the quantum of reservations, the nature of benefits and the kind of reservations would remain undisturbed except for the identification of the Socially and Educationally Backward Communities (SEBC) list, he said.
While the OBC list deals with the reservation of backward classes in employment in the State service, the SEBC deals with reservation for admissions in the educational institutions in State.
The apex court order, which struck down the reservation accorded to the Maratha community, has special relevance to the State as applications of over 50 communities are pending before the State Commission for inclusion on the OBC list.
Current list
Currently, there are 74 communities on the list as notified under the Kerala State Subordinate Services Rules. It is on the recommendation of the commission that the State notifies communities on the list. The Christian Nadar community was the latest one to be included on the OBC list after a recommendation from the commission. In its landmark judgement, the top court had also specified that the total reservation provided shall not exceed 50 as laid down earlier in the Indira Sawhney case.
The commission is the statutory body for recommending the inclusion and examination of complaints of over-inclusion or under-inclusion of backward classes of citizens on the list. Its also tasked with the periodic evaluation of the degree of backwardness of the backward classes reservation in appointments or posts in the State services.
