A commission was appointed by the first government of independent India under Jawaharlal Nehru to look into the welfare of the OBCs. Identify the commission and what became of its report.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Kaka Kalelkar Commission - its report was sidelined
Option (1) Kaka Kalelkar Commission - its report was implemented by the central government — Incorrect. The commission is right, but its report was not implemented. The political climate of the time led to the report being sidelined.
Option (2) B.P. Mandal Commission - its report was sidelined — Incorrect. The Mandal Commission was the Second Backward Classes Commission. The Janata Party government appointed it in the late 1970s, long after the Nehru years.
Option (3) Kaka Kalelkar Commission - its report was sidelined — Correct. The Nehru government set up the First Backward Classes Commission under Kaka Kalelkar, and it reported in 1953. Its report was sidelined, and from the mid-fifties the OBC issue moved to the state level.
Option (4) B.P. Mandal Commission - its report was implemented by the central government — Incorrect. The Mandal Commission came much later, in the late 1970s, under the Janata Party. The commission of the Nehru government was headed by Kaka Kalelkar.
NCERT (2026-27): “The Other Backward Classes … |