Social Inequality and Affirmative Action Policy in India:
A Sociological Perspective
Social Inequality and Affirmative Action Policy in India:
A Sociological Perspective
Tuesday, 8 July 2025
Location: FSE039 (Faculty of Education Sciences (FSE))
Distributed Paper
Social inequality refers to the disparities in wealth, income, power, and access to resources and opportunities among individuals or groups within a society. These disparities can manifest in various forms, including economic inequality (such as differences in income and wealth), educational inequality, healthcare inequality, and other dimensions like gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and disability. Social inequality often leads to unequal opportunities, privileges, and outcomes, perpetuating cycles of advantage and disadvantage across generations. It can contribute to social tensions, injustice, and hinder societal progress towards equality and justice.
Government of India set up two commissions to identify the Other Backward Classes (OBCs). The First Backward Classes Commission was set up on 29th January 1953 and it submitted its report on March 30, 1955.
The Second Backward Class Commission (Mandal Commission) was appointed to identify the socially and educationally backward classes (SEBC). The Commission identified 3,743 castes as OBCs and 2,108 as Depresses Backward Classes. They were inadequately represented in Government jobs. The Prime Minister V.P. Singh implemented the recommendations of Mandal Commission in government jobs in August 1990. There was massive student protests started throughout the country against the recommendations of Mandal Commission. The Supreme Court gave the verdict in the favour of reservations for OBCs in Government jobs. Supreme Court asked Government to exclude ‘creamy layer’ (high income family members) to avail the benefit of the reservations in government jobs.
In 2006, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh implemented 27 percent reservations for OBCs in Higher Educational Institutions.
Government of India set up two commissions to identify the Other Backward Classes (OBCs). The First Backward Classes Commission was set up on 29th January 1953 and it submitted its report on March 30, 1955.
The Second Backward Class Commission (Mandal Commission) was appointed to identify the socially and educationally backward classes (SEBC). The Commission identified 3,743 castes as OBCs and 2,108 as Depresses Backward Classes. They were inadequately represented in Government jobs. The Prime Minister V.P. Singh implemented the recommendations of Mandal Commission in government jobs in August 1990. There was massive student protests started throughout the country against the recommendations of Mandal Commission. The Supreme Court gave the verdict in the favour of reservations for OBCs in Government jobs. Supreme Court asked Government to exclude ‘creamy layer’ (high income family members) to avail the benefit of the reservations in government jobs.
In 2006, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh implemented 27 percent reservations for OBCs in Higher Educational Institutions.
On April 10, 2008, the Supreme Court of India upheld the government's initiative of 27 percent reservations for OBC quotas in government institutions.
In 2019, 103rd Amendment Act of Parliament, Prime Minister Narendra Modi implemented 10 percent reservations for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in Government jobs and the Higher Educational Institutions.