Topic: OBC

Whether reservations in the private sector are feasible or not depends on the political will of the governments. It is a globally proven fact that institutions with greater diversity are more successful and innovative and endure longer.

Nitish Kumar finds himself in a fix as he ditched the backward class constituency in jumping onto the BJP bandwagon. As an astute politician, he realised that all his rhetoric would not work with people. Therefore, he has come out with this trick of demanding a 50 per cent reservation in private sector.

What Nitish Kumar has said is not anything new. This issue has been debated and discussed since the 2000s. Several Dalit politicians have stressed the need for reservations in the private sector.

Party chief Akhilesh Yadav likely to constitute a new team, select leaders from non-Yadav OBCs and Dalits.

Following the Karpoori Thakur model, OBC sub-categorisation could be icing on BJP’s cake.

The decision to sub-categorise OBCs for reservation will not help anyone - not the nation, not the upper castes, and certainly not the OBCs.

By spreading benefits of OBC reservations more evenly among all castes, the BJP can win over 40 crore of India’s most deprived people.