Being a constitutional body, the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) sought clarification from the Karnataka government over Muslim Other Backward Classes (OBC) quota without any political or electoral motivations, said its Chairperson Hansraj Ahir in an interview with The Indian Express. A former Union minister, Ahir said that the commission is concerned only with the protection and fair implementation of OBC rights. “Our correspondence with them (Karnataka) has been going on for the past 7 to 8 months. We are only corresponding with the chief secretary and not the political leadership,” Ahir said. Responding to why the commission had flagged the issue now as Muslim OBC quota in Karnataka existed for decades, Ahir said, “we do not want to go into the past, we have sought present-day data.” He added that the commission had sought to know how all Muslims were put in the bracket of backward classes and had received incomplete information from the state. “The commission is not on the issue of religion, but caste. They (Karnataka) should clarify how an entire community has been considered backward,” Ahir said. The issue has created a political firestorm during the ongoing Lok Sabha elections with PM Narendra Modi repeatedly accusing the Congress of “snatching away” the rights of Dalits and OBCs to pass on the reservation to the Muslims. The BJP has also alleged that Congress wants to provide reservations on religious grounds. Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah dubbed the BJP’s allegations a “blatant lie”. Ahir cited UG and PG medical courses admission data as one of the grounds for the claim that Muslims were overrepresented in the accrual of benefits under OBC quota. This formed one of the key reasons for NCBC to seek clarifications from the Karnataka government. Earlier, in an interview with The Indian Express, Siddaramaiah said that the policy of giving reservations to Muslims began in 1994 based on a Backward Classes Commission report and it was in line with constitutional provisions. Karnataka provides 4% OBC quota to all Muslims in category II-B of the quota matrix. This does not include those falling in the creamy layer with annual income of Rs 8 lakh or above. In 2023, the Basavaraj Bommai-led government had cancelled this quota to divide it among Vokkaligas and Lingayats at 2% each, but didn’t implement it after the SC called the decision “hasty”. Another issue linked to the OBCs in the current elections is the Maratha reservation in Ahir’s home state of Maharashtra. When questioned about the churn and concern among OBC groups in Maharashtra over issuing of Kunbi (OBC) caste certificates to members of the Maratha community, Ahir said since the state government is seized of the matter, the commission can only intervene if it receives complaints and petitions. “We look at the issues of the central list of OBCs recommended by state governments. I can speak on that, but I do not have any reason to object to the current list of Maharashtra,” he said. OBC groups have expressed concerns that issuing Kunbi caste certificates to all Marathas will encroach on their quotas and impact their political representation. Ahir was tight-lipped on the caste census, a major poll plank of Congress, and said that the commission cannot make recommendations on such an issue. “Doing a (caste) census is the policy prerogative of the government,” he said.
