MANDAL REPORT IMPLEMENTATION, 1990 - Spark that Lit a Social Revolution

What was perhaps as much a political expedient as the desire for social justice soon took on a life of its own, ushering in the era of caste-based politics and a growing competition among communities for quotas in jobs and education

- BY KAUSHIK DEKA

When a young student—Rajiv Goswami of Delhi's Deshbandhu College—set himself afire on September 19, 1990, to protest then prime minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh's decision to implement the recommendations of the Second Backward Classes Commission, or the Mandal Commission, his harrowing act of defiance became an enduring symbol of resistance in the country and exposed the fragility of India's social fabric.

Set up in 1979 by the Morarji Desai government and chaired by former Bihar chief minister Bindheshwari Prasad Mandal, the commission proposed 27 per cent reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCS) in central government jobs and educational institutions. The report languished in obscurity for 11 years, till Singh retrieved it from the dustbin of history and announced its implementation on August 7, 1990.

Some saw it as a long-overdue step toward social justice, others dismissed it as an open political gambit to consolidate OBC support. But the announcement provoked intense backlash from the members of the privileged castes, who perceived it as a diminishing of their opportunities in a reservation-driven system. Two years later, the Supreme Court, in a landmark judgment—