Kerala HC seeks report from State on socio-economic survey of other backward classes

The Kerala High Court recently directed the Secretary, Department of Backward Classes Development, Veena N. Madhavan, to report on the steps taken to conduct a socio-economic caste survey by November 5, 2026.

The Division Bench of Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice V.M. Syam Kumar observed that the court had in 2019 directed the Union and State governments to finalise the socio-economic study report and hand it over to the Kerala State Commission for Backward Classes . The commission was to then evaluate the report and give its recommendations to the State. 

OBC list

The court was considering a contempt petition filed by the Minority Indians Planning and Vigilance Commission Trust on the failure of the Union and State authorities to comply with the judgment. The judgment was issued in writ petitions seeking revision of Keralam’s Other Backward Classes (OBC) list and a declaration that the Muslim community was entitled to all benefits available to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST).

The writ petitions had also sought directions to the State to conduct special recruitment for Muslim Backward Classes and to determine the degree of backwardness of Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes and fix their position in the Kerala Public Services Commission rotation chart.

The court had observed that the backward classes commission was duty-bound to discharge the functions of identifying the backward classes and that without conducting the fact-finding survey, the court could not issue directions in terms of the petition.

Underrepresented

The contempt petition claimed that due to the non-revision of the lists, the Muslim community, Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes and 70 other backward classes were underrepresented in the Kerala Public Services. Additionally, the petitioner informed the court that the Telangana government conducted a comprehensive door-to-door household survey to plan and implement various social, educational, employment, and political opportunities for the improvement of Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes, and other weaker sections of the State. In this regard, the court directed the Additional Advocate General to consider whether a similar order was required to implement the court’s earlier orders.