SC QUOTA

Context

Key points 

• The original rationale behind giving reservation to Scheduled Castes was that these sections had suffered from the social evil of untouchability, which was practised among Hindus.

• The first order under this provision was issued in 1950 and covered only Hindus.
• Following demands from the Sikh community, the order was issued in 1956, including Sikhs of Dalit origin among the beneficiaries of the SC quota.
• In 1990, the government acceded to a similar demand from Buddhists of Dalit origin and the order was revised to state.
• No person who professes a religion different from the Hindu, the Sikh or the Buddhist religion shall be deemed to be a member of Scheduled Caste.

Mandal Commission report

• The Religion based bar does not apply to converted STs and OBCs. 
• The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) website states, " The rights of a person belonging to a scheduled Tribe are independent of his/ her religious faith".
• Following the implementation of the Mandal Commission report, Several Christian and Muslim communities have found a place in the Central and state lists of OBCs.

The Constitution (Schedule Castes) Orders (Amendment) Bill

• After 1990, several Private Member Bills were brought to Parliament for this purpose.
• In 1996, a government Bill called The Constitution (Schedule Castes) Orders (Amendment) Bill was drafted, but given a divergence of opinions, the Bill was not introduced in Parliament.

UPA Government

1. The National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities, Popularly known as the Ranganath Misra Commission, in October 2004 and
2. A seven-member high-level committee headed by former Chief  Justice of Delhi High Court Rajinder Sachar to study the social, economic and educational condition of Muslims in March 2005.

Sachar Committee Report 

Ranganath Misra Commission

Other Reports

• A report by a team of sociologists led by Satish Deshpande, titled Dalits in the Muslim and Christian Communities.
• A status Report on current Social Scientific Knowledge said in January 2008 that there was a strong case for extending SC status to Dalit Christians and Dalit Muslims.
• However, the study commissioned by the National Commission for Minorities was also not considered reliable due to insufficient data.

 BJP resolution 

Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha

• In 1961, the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS), the highest decision-making body of the RSS, had said, if any scheme of separate reservation of different sects is sought to be envisaged for political purposes, it will prove highly detrimental to national unity.
• In 1990, in response to Christian demands for reservation on the lines of neo-Buddhists, the ABPS said "the Constitution makers envisaged these concessions only to remove caste-based discrimination and inequality prevalent in Hindu Society."

Petitions before Supreme Court

• Based on the recommendations of the Ranganath Misra Commission, there are some petitions pending before the Supreme Court, seeking reservation benefits for Christians and Muslims of Dalit origin.
• In the last hearing on August 30, a three-judge Bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul gave the Solicitor General of India Tushar Metha three Weeks to present the stand of the Union government on the issue.
• The next hearing is scheduled for October 11.

For Prelims & Mains