Explain the background and implementation of …

TheMandal Commissionwas established inIndiain 1979 by theJanata Partygovernment under Prime MinisterMorarji Desaiwith a mandate to "identify the socially or educationally backward."It was headed byIndian parliamentarianB.P. Mandalto consider the question of seat reservations and quotas for people to redresscastediscrimination, and used eleven social, economic, and educational indicators to determine backwardness. In 1980, the commission's report affirmed theaffirmative actionpractice under Indian law whereby members of lower castes (known asOther Backward Classes(OBC),Scheduled Castes(SC) andScheduled Tribes(ST)) were given exclusive access to a certain portion of government jobs and slots in public universities, and recommended changes to thesequotas, increasing them by 27% to 49.5%.Mobilization on caste lines had followed the political empowerment of ordinary citizens by the constitution of free India that allowed common people to politically assert themselves through the right to vote.

In short,

Mandal commision :

• Led by B P Mandal
• asked to determine the criteria to identify socially and educationally backward classes in India .
• Implemented in 1990, under V P Singh.