The OBCs and the Ruling Classes in India

Contents: Preface. Introducing the study of the OBC problematic/H.S. Verma and Rakesh Varma. I. The OBCs: composition and characteristics: 1. Socio-economic conditions of backward castes in Western Uttar Pradesh: a comparative study/Ajit Kumar Singh. 2. Socio-economic conditions of the Hindu OBCs in Urban Uttar Pradesh: an empirical study/S.S.A. Jafri. 3. Muslims in India: caste affinity and social boundaries of backwardness/Nadeem Hasnain. 4. OBCs: composition, decomposition, characteristics and empowerment tasks/V.S. Sujatha. II. The OBCs and the politico-administrative fraction: 5. Evolution of the methodology of identification and listing of the OBCs/Shish Ram Sharma. 6. Creamy layer among the OBCs: genesis, operationalization and current status/R.B.S. Verma. 7. Institutional arrangements for the welfare, emancipation and empowerment of the OBCs/H.S. Verma. III. The OBCs and the opinion-makers: 8. The press and other opinion-makers in the public discourse on the reservation issue/Neeta Verma. 9. Caste system: a cultural mechanism for social and economic deprivation/J.P. Singh. 10. Caste inequalities in India today/Satish Deshpande. 11. Debate on identification, scheduling and reservation for the OBCs: misdirection, disinformation and partisanship by the Mainstream social scientists/H.S. Verma and Arun Kumar Singh. IV. The OBCs and the bar and the higher judiciary: 12. Evolution of case law on compensatory discrimination, 1950-1990: a contemporary re-assessment of Marc Galanter and higher judiciary in India from the point of view of the OBCs/H.S. Verma. 13. Indra Sawhney, before and after: the historic journey of a milestone case on compensatory discrimination in India/Neeta Verma. The other backward classes of India: a select bibliography/compiled by Neeta Verma. Index.

"Despite the fact that the OBCs constitute the largest chunck of the Indian society, they are the single most neglected social-constitutional category. This is the first book that attempts to empirically answer crucial questions about their present status and treatment of the OBC problematic by different fractions of the ruling coalition. It is divided into four parts. The first part deals with their composition and characteristics. The second part analyses the role of the politico-administrative fractions deciding the key questions of methodology of identification and scheduling of the OBCs, the anomalies in the listing, the creamy layer, the composition and decomposition, characteristics, and institutional mechanisms handling different empowerment tasks. The third part highlights the role of the opinion makers. The fourth part presents the acts of commissions and omissions by the bar and the judiciary. The book is likely to trigger a whole new sets of studies on the OBCs and the caste based inequalities in India. It would be an essential reading for social scientists, policy planners, political parties and the OBCs themselves." (jacket)