NEW DELHI: Amid calls for extension of job reservations to “poor upper castes”, the National Commission for Backward Classes ( NCBC ) has said it is ready to include economically weaker sections in the OBC list , noting that occupation, like caste, is also a marker of backwardness.

NCBC chairman Justice V Eswaraiah said the Supreme Court’s Indira Sawhney judgment on Mandal Commission had observed that government should consider methods other than caste for identifying the backward classes. He said occupation-cum-income could be one such option.

“If there is a person involved in rickshaw-pulling for years, he is an OBC,” Eswaraiah told TOI, indicating he may push the envelope with the government to support the lobbying to bring economically backward classes (EBCs) under the quota ambit.

Quota for upper castes has been an issue of heartburn in the post-Mandal debate, with its votaries saying that limiting affirmative action to the Mandal classes marks injustice to EBCs who face similar hardships as OBCs. Their argument is that “creamy layer” entitles better-off OBCs for quotas while upper castes without the economic means are unable to compete in the open category.

Lately, the political class across the spectrum has begun to lobby for poor upper castes, with BSP chief Mayawati making the demand in her Constitution Day speech in Rajya Sabha last week. BJP government in Rajasthan has made a law on these lines. Now, the view of the NCBC -- the statutory authority for inclusion and exclusion from OBC list -- is a major leg-up for the simmering demand.

According to Eswaraiah, the Socio-Economic Caste Census provides a critical tool in deciding new categories for reservations since the survey gives a comprehensive status of a household’s economic status, occupation and caste.

“Among non-OBCs, if there are claims to backwardness, we can check the socio-economic census and decide on their inclusion in the backward list,” he said.

However, the panel chair argued that expansion of the Mandal frontiers may require sub-categorization of OBCs – division of backwards into sub-groups of castes based on their socio-economic status and apportioning 27% quota among them in proportion to their population.

The measure, already proposed by the NCBC to the Centre -- is aimed at ensuring equitable distribution of quota benefits since some dominant OBCs are cornering the quota benefits at the expense of their weaker brethren. It has proposed division of the OBC list into “backward classes”, “most backwards” and “extremely backwards”.

“When there are sub-groups, an EBC can be included in the appropriate category,” Eswaraiah said.