As 102nd amendment blows up in its face, govt plans to amend amendment to restore states’ power to identify OBCs

NEW DELHI: With the Supreme Court rejecting the review petition filed by the Centre and handing the mandate to identify the state list of OBCs to the central government, social justice and empowerment minister Thawarchand Gehlot on Friday said the Centre is considering a constitutional amendment to restore the power of states with regard to the local list of backwards.
Gehlot told TOI, “We are discussing the issue with the law ministry. Based on that and the guidance from the PMO, we will decide the future course of action. An amendment appears the only way out.... not another appeal in the court. We will decide on it soon.”
Gehlot’s upfront view appears an attempt to pre-empt criticism from regional parties, states and the opposition which have been lashing out at the Centre ever since the Supreme Court on May 5 upheld the 102nd Constitutional amendment but stated that it empowered the Centre (the President), based on the recommendation of the National Commission for Backward Classes, to determine which communities can be included in the state list of OBCs. Till the SC judgement, the state list of OBCs had been an exclusive domain of the states.
The 102nd amendment was enacted to grant constitutional status to the NCBC in 2018. But the formulation of the bill came under serious scrutiny during the debate in Parliament from OBC leaders belonging to the opposition and regional parties, who warned the government that it will overturn the existing system of identifying the Mandal castes and concentrate the powers in the NCBC and the union government. The Centre insisted there is no change in the states' powers to draw up their OBC lists.
As reported by TOI, the critics were not optimistic of the appeal route given the negative history of the challenges to the Supreme Court judgements, and had started lobbying the government for an amendment to the 102nd amendment.
The changed order of things, post-SC judgement, has strong political implications. Given that the NCBC is a central body packed with political appointees, there are strong fears that the ruling may end up dictating the OBC lists in states besides the central OBC list.
Gehlot told TOI, “We feel that the central OBC list should be decided by the Centre and the state lists should be determined by the states. We feel that the old system should stay. We don’t want to snatch away the powers of states or weaken them.”
Asked that the opposition was criticising the BJP government for ignoring its warnings in Parliament, Gehlot claimed that “we kept the old law, we made no change in it”.