ADVOCACY, LEGAL BATTLES AND POLICY INFLUENCE
The National OBC Intellectual Forum understands that sustainable change for backward classes requires not only community mobilization but active engagement with legal and policy processes. The Forum has built a reputation for informed, evidence-based advocacy that is taken seriously by government bodies, courts, and policymakers.
Caste Census Demand
Among the Forum's most significant national-level campaigns has been the sustained demand for a caste-based census. The absence of accurate OBC population data since the 1931 census has been a major lacuna in Indian social policy, allowing governments to sidestep evidence-based policymaking on OBC issues. The Forum has consistently argued that a proper caste census is the foundation for any genuine effort to ensure equitable distribution of reservation benefits and government resources among backward communities. This demand, long championed by OBC organizations, finally received partial recognition when the Government of India announced the inclusion of a caste enumeration component in the national census exercise.
Engagement with the National Commission for Backward Classes
The Forum has actively engaged with the NCBC — submitting petitions, providing data on uncovered communities, and participating in hearings on the inclusion and exclusion of communities from central OBC lists. This engagement has helped bring technical credibility to the community's demands and has, in several instances, contributed to positive outcomes for specific communities seeking inclusion in the central list.
Advocacy on the 102nd and 105th Constitutional Amendments
The 102nd Constitutional Amendment Act of 2018, which granted constitutional status to the NCBC and centralized OBC list-making power with the President, generated significant concern among OBC organizations that states would lose their authority to maintain and update their own BC lists. The 105th Amendment of 2021 subsequently restored states' powers to identify SEBCs. The Forum was actively engaged in this debate, making representations to parliamentary committees and advocating for state-level autonomy in OBC policy — a position ultimately vindicated by the 105th Amendment.