During Special Mentions at the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday (March 18, 2026), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Bihar Bhim Singh called for the sub-categorisation of the 27% Other Backward Classes (OBC) quota for Central schemes, a subject mooted by the Union government when it commissioned a report on it in 2017, but has put it on hold since the report’s submission in 2023.
Sub-categorisation of the OBC socio-economic category has been done by various State governments for a while now, and recognises the graded backwardness of communities within a given categorisation. In 2015, the erstwhile National Commission for Backward Classes had recommended sub-categorisation of the Central list of OBCs, and the government constituted the Justice G. Rohini Commission in 2017.
“Unless this is done, the extremely backward castes will not be able to receive their proper benefits”, calling for the division of the 27% OBC quota as per the “Karpoori formula”, named after former Bihar Chief Minister and a champion of social justice politics, Karpoori Thakur. According to this, Mr. Singh called for reserving 9% for Other Backward Castes, 6% for Intermediate Backward Castes, and 12% for Extremely Backward Castes, within the 27% quota for OBCs.
