There’s been lots of discussion about whether OBC quotas at educational institutes are justified or not and now we have some hard facts to back up the chatter. Half a dozen students belonging to the Other Backward Classes (OBC) have made it to the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (IIM-C) after applying through the general quota. What’s more, there is little difference in the performance of OBC students and general candidate students at India’s top educational institutes. Before we get into breaking down how valid the OBC quota is, let’s raise a toast to these students who got into IIM-C off their own steam and chose to not take the support of OBC reservations.

Prof Mitra, Chairman of Admissions at IIM-C, said that this is not the first time that OBC students have come through the general category. On an earlier occasion, 16 OBC students had scored higher marks than the general cut-off and had been admitted to IIM-C through the general quota. and So then, are quotas justified for OBCs? Prof Mitra declined to comment on this burning issue.

Quota reservations are available for OBCs which belong to the non-creamy layer. Over the years, the government has raised the income level to be considered a non-creamy OBC from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2.5 lakhs to Rs 4.5 lakhs. Apart from the income consideration, the parents’ profession also makes a difference as to whether a person is eligible for the OBC quota. It is estimated that this increase has led to 80 percent of OBCs coming under the umbrella of non-creamy OBCs. The constitution requires that the government work towards improving the welfare of the OBCs who are considered to be socially and educationally backward and education is a tool which can be used for this purpose.

OBC students are nearly at par with general category students and are also getting through to institutes through the general quota. The difference in cut-off scores for an OBC and general quota student is a maximum of five-six percent. IIM-C officials have termed the initiative of these six OBC students as brave but what purpose is the OBC quota really serving? A quota aims to include underprivileged sections of society so that overall growth can be achieved. OBC candidates are proving themselves to be as capable as general candidate students and hence the government should definitely relook the criteria to be considered an OBC eligible for the reserved quota. The performance of OBC students makes me question whether such students are indeed at such a disadvantage that they need a reserved quota for themselves.

It is clear that the criteria which are currently used for determining OBCs do not necessarily make for a socially and educationally backward person. There are a couple of options which the government could consider. Social and education backwardness are difficult terms to define but income and academics are probably fair indicators for the two. The income level could be reduced so as to ensure that only severely economically backward people are eligible for this benefit. As far as academics is concerned, there are schools which are mainly attended by the poorer sections of society and these students could be considered to apply for the OBC quota. Of course, institutes are currently ensuring that OBC students who score higher than the general cut-off are admitted through the general category.

Educational institutes which receive government aid are required to implement 27 percent quota for OBCs by 2011. The IIMs plan to achieve this in a phased manner by increases of nine percent seats for OBCs from 2008 onwards so as to achieve 27 percent seats by 2010-11. It is important that the OBC criteria are given a serious rethink so that the concept of reservations actually benefits the disadvantaged and does not simply serve as a less difficult path to premier educational institutions.