Other Backward Classes are communities other than SC and ST that suffer from educational and social backwardness. These are also referred to as ‘backward castes’. The support for Congress among many sections of the ‘backward castes’ declined. This created a space for non-Congress parties that drew more support from these communities. The rise of these parties first found political expression at the national level in the form of the Janata Party government in 1977. Many of the constituents of the Janata Party, like the Bharatiya Kranti Dal and the Samyukta Socialist Party, had a powerful rural base among some sections of the OBC.

Which of the following statements is correct?

a- Reservations for the OBC were in existence in southern states since the 1960s.
b- Karpoori Thakur's s government had introduced a new policy of reservations for OBCs in Bihar.

Both statements are correct.

Reservations for the OBC were in existence in southern States since the 1960s, if not earlier. But this policy was not operative in north Indian States. Karpoori Thakur, the then Chief Minister of Bihar, was a pioneer in this direction. His government had introduced a new policy of reservations for OBCs in Bihar.