MADHYA PRADESH GOVT JUSTIFIES RAISING OBC QUOTA TO 27% IN SUPREME COURT, CITING OVER 50% BACKWARD CLASS POPULATION:

The Madhya Pradesh Government has filed a strong defence before the Supreme Court for its decision to enhance the quota for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) from 14% to 27%. In an affidavit submitted on September 23, the State argued that backward communities together constitute over 85% of its population and continue to face severe disadvantages despite their overwhelming demographic presence.

According to the 2011 Census, Scheduled Castes (SCs) make up 15.6%, Scheduled Tribes (STs) 21.1%, and OBCs over 51% of Madhya Pradesh’s population. A 2022 report by the State OBC Commission confirmed that OBCs alone account for more than half of the population. Together, disadvantaged groups represent more than 87% of the population. Yet, OBCs were earlier confined to only 14% reservation, which the State described as wholly disproportionate to their demographic share and to their social and educational backwardness. The increase to 27%, it contended, was not only justified but also a constitutionally mandated corrective measure.

The affidavit was filed in response to petitions challenging the validity of Section 4 of the Madhya Pradesh Lok Seva (Reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes) Act, 1994, as amended by the 2019 Amendment Act. This amendment raised the OBC quota from 14% to 27% for all posts in State services. In 2022, however, the Madhya Pradesh High Court issued an interim order restraining the government from implementing reservation beyond 14% and stayed the corresponding rules. The petitions were later transferred to the Supreme Court, which did not set aside the High Court’s order but listed the matter for final hearing in October 2025.

At present, Scheduled Castes enjoy 16% reservation and Scheduled Tribes 20% in Madhya Pradesh. With the 27% OBC quota and the 10% reservation for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), the total reservation rises to 73%, exceeding the 50% ceiling set out in judicial precedent. To justify this, the State referred to the Indra Sawhney judgment of 1992, which allows the ceiling to be breached in extraordinary circumstances such as overwhelming backwardness and regional imbalances. It submitted that the situation in Madhya Pradesh clearly fell within these exceptional parameters.

The affidavit relied on multiple data sources to demonstrate that OBCs in the State continue to suffer from entrenched and multi-dimensional backwardness, social, educational, economic, and political. Despite constituting more than half of the population, their representation in higher State services remains negligible. Many still face caste-based discrimination, exclusion from public spaces, and food-based ostracism. Economically, the OBCs bear the brunt of industrialisation’s adverse impact on traditional occupations, exploitation through debt bondage, and near absence in medium or large-scale enterprises. These systemic barriers, the State argued, justify affirmative action beyond the conventional 50% limit.

The affidavit further referred to the Mahajan Commission report of 1980, which had recommended 35% reservation for OBCs in State services and education. Although the 1994 Act initially fixed the quota at 14%, successive Backward Classes Commission reports between 1996 and 2001 urged that the figure be raised to 27–35%. The 2019 ordinance, later enacted into law, relied on these recommendations to enhance the quota to 27%.

Additionally, a 2023 socio-economic study conducted by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Social Sciences University highlighted the persistent disadvantages faced by OBCs, including caste segregation, poor educational outcomes, economic vulnerability, and weak political presence. The State also drew attention to the administrative paralysis created by judicial interim orders. Since 2022, recruitment processes have been stalled across several departments, leaving over 4,700 posts vacant in the Public Service Commission and the Employee Selection Board. The government argued that it was suffering irreparable harm due to the stalemate and urged the Supreme Court to allow appointments under the enhanced quota, pending the final outcome of the case.