Editing Other Backward Class (section)

==Socio-economic status==
There existed a huge disparity among various castes and communities classified as Other Backward Class, even before the implementation of the reservation policy in government jobs and educational institutions, as per the recommendation of the Mandal Commission report. While a major section of Other Backward Castes was extremely backward, there existed a section that owned considerable land and employed [[Scheduled Castes]] (SC) as agricultural labourers. In the agitation for implementation of the report of Mandal Commission, Scheduled Castes supported the Other Backward Castes, but after the implementation of these recommendations on the direction of [[Supreme Court of India]], the tension between a section of OBCs and SCs increased.<ref name=TF>{{cite book|title=Dalits, Subalternity and Social Change in India|year=2018|editor1 = Ajit K. Pandey|editor2=Ashok K. Pankaj|place=United Kingdom|publisher=Taylor & Francis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dHd0DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT21 |pages=21–23|isbn=9780429785184 }}</ref>

In some states of North India, the [[Yadav]]s, [[Kurmi]]s, and the [[Koeri]]s, which were called "upper-OBC", were well off, due to ownership of a sizeable amount of land.<ref name=TF/> The abolition of [[Zamindari system]] in post-independence India raised many of the members of these communities to the status of landlords.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_3tqDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT185 |first=Zarhani|last=Seyed Hossein|title=Governance and Development in India A Comparative Study on Andhra Pradesh and Bihar After Liberalization|place=United Kingdom|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=2018|isbn=9781351255189|quote= Therefore, as Witsoe (2013, 41) and Robin (2009, 70) elaborate, after the abolition of the Zamindari system in Bihar, new landlords came from peasant caste backgrounds such as Koeri, Yadav, and Kurmi caste groups. These recently politically ascendant castes could be considered as the new political allies in a power struggle among the upper caste leaders in the Congress.}}</ref> Following the [[Green Revolution in India]], their landholdings and economic prosperity increased further; they acquired education and became an active participant in government jobs. Further, after the [[Mandal Commission protests of 1990|Mandal agitation]] subsided in North India, OBC leaders gained political power to outnumber the upper caste legislators in most of the north Indian states. This led to the formation of the OBC-led government in many states of North India. They also ended up claiming the high ritual status, which is defined as ''[[Sanskritisation]]''.<ref name=TF/>

However, the OBC consolidation in some of the states of north India like [[Bihar]], left many other OBC communities away from the development process. The political and economic prosperity was cornered by the dominant Backward Castes like [[Koeri]], [[Kurmi]] and [[Yadav]]; this was witnessed in the formation of political blocs in the state after 1995, in which, either side was dominated by these three castes.<ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=IVxODwAAQBAJ&pg=PT66|last=Kumar|first=S.|year=2018|title=Post-Mandal Politics in Bihar: Changing Electoral Patterns|place=India|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=9789352805860 }}</ref>

Within this section of OBCs called upper-OBC, there also exists disparity in educational attainment and political mobilisation. While the Yadavs were the biggest beneficiary in political achievements, their political progress didn't improve their position in the caste hierarchy and the spread of education among them also remained less as compared to more educationally advanced communities like [[Kurmi|Awadhia Kurmi]], [[Koeri]] and [[Bania (caste)|Bania]]. Since the Yadavs were associated with cattle herding in contrast to other upper-OBCs, who were owner cultivators, trespassing into field of landlords and regular struggle with the latter was a challenge for their survival.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Tilak D.|last=Gupta.|title= "Yadav Ascendancy in Bihar Politics."|journal=Economic and Political Weekly| volume= 27|issue= 26|year=1992|pages=1304–06|jstor=4398537}}</ref> The mobilisation of Other Backward Class for social-economic ascendancy was not observed at the same pace and in the same manner in different north Indian states. In north India, states like [[Rajasthan]] and [[Madhya Pradesh]] also have substantial populations of Backward Castes, yet, no movement as seen in states like Bihar took place in these states. Many observers have mentioned that in Bihar, the upper OBCs viz. Koeri, Kurmi, and Yadav's political ascendancy went hand in hand with land reforms and peasant movements, benefitting these three castes. These movements changed not only their political position but also their socio-economic profile. However, in the case of Madhya Pradesh, the national political parties like [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] and [[Indian National Congress]] accommodated the Backward Class in the political structure of the state in a way that socio-political movement of any kind was prevented from taking place.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Verma|first=A. K.|title="Backward Caste Politics in Uttar Pradesh."|journal=[[Economic and Political Weekly]]| volume=40|issue=36|year=2005|pages=3889–92| jstor=4417094}}</ref>