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Forward Castes or Upper Castes or Non Reserved Castes are group of endogamous Castes who are not classified either in Backward Castes list or in Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes lists declared by the Government of India or by various state governments of India. The Government of India does not publish a separate list for Forward Castes. The population of these communities is estimated at around 36-39% of the Indian Population based on various surveys conducted by Government of India.

Communities

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Caste which is considered as Backward in one state may be considered as Forward in another state.(E.g Khatri's are considered as Forward in almost all Indian states except Tamilnadu. Jats are considered backward only in Rajastan).

Many communities and their sub-castes are normally classified as Forward Castes. However, some forward castes are considered backward in some other regions.

Forward Castes considered forward everywhere

• • Brahmins. and its subcastes
  • Marathas. Mainly concentrated in Maharastra
  • Nairs. Mainly concentrated in Kerala
  • Various Bania Communities like Agarwals,Marwari,Gupta,Oswal etc.
  • Reddys who are mainly concentrated in Andhra Pradesh.
  • Kapu and subcastes of Kapu like Telaga,Ontari mainly concentrated in Andhra Pradesh.
  • Raju who are mainly concentrated in Andhra Pradesh
  • Rajputs
  • Thakore
  • Jain Religious people
  • Parsis
  • Bunt mainly found in Karnataka
  • Jews.They are very few in numbers and concentrated mainly in and around Mumbai

Forward Castes considered backward in some regions

• • Khatri.They are considered as Backward Caste only in Tamilnadu
  • Nagarathar Chettiar mainly found in Tamilnadu.They are considered as Forward Caste in Tamil Nadu but Backward caste in Kerala.
  • Naidu. Some subcastes of Naidu like Balija Naidu are considered Forward castes in states like Andhra Pradesh.
  • Kamma who are mainly concentrated in Andhra Pradesh, In Tamilnadu they are considered as Backward caste.
  • Kayasthas. Karuneegars which is equivalent of Kayasthas are considered Backward caste in Tamil Nadu
  • Jats.They are mainly concentrated in Punjab,Haryana,Uttar Pradesh,Rajastan. In Rajastan they are considered as Backward caste.
  • Komati Chettiar or Arya Vaishya mainly found in Andhra Pradesh and parts of Tamilnadu. One variant of the Arya vaishya caste called Ayira vaishya has been included in Backward class list in Tamilnadu.
  • Bohra Muslims.All Muslims are considered Backward in Kerala and separate reservation is provided to them.
  • Christians In South Indian states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala etc. in regions where christians constitute more than 60% of total population, many of the christian members follow equivalent Hindu caste pattern. For example, the Christian Nadars are included in Backward classes. Other Christians like Latin Catholics (which actually represents a church instead of a caste) has been included in the Backward classes list.

Population

Many Political leaders who support Reservation for Backward classes like Mr. Karunanidhi, Dr. Udit Raj, Mr. Ramadoss, etc. estimate the Forward Castes population as anywhere from 5-15%. However they have not quoted sources for their estimations. National sample survey estimates Forward Caste population almost same as Backward Classes at around 36%. Family health survey combined Forward castes population along with all communities of other religions. If you exclude Backward castes of other religions, then it is around 38.6% which is more than Backward castes population. State wise Forward Caste Population can be found from the chart.

Economic & Educational status

Source:Employment and Unemployment situation among various social groups in India NSS 55 round 1999-2000

Forward Castes are unreserved categories of the indian population will have to compete only in open category as they are considered socially, educationally and economically advanced. Currently reserved category proportion stands at 50% in central government educational institutions and central Government jobs. However in certain states like Tamilnadu reservation percentage stands at around 69%.

Economic status

NSS 99-00 calculated economical status of Forward Communities separately for Rural/Urban Areas in various income brackets.It shows

• • Only 6.4% of Forward Castes in rural areas appear in upper income bracket with per capita monthly income stands at above Rs 925/Month.
  • 30% of rural population comprises of Forward Castes.
  • More than 65% of Forward castes per capita income stands below Rs 525/Month.

Government of India does not collect community-wise census data except for SC/ST. Economic and educational level of various social groups are gauged using large sample surveys. National Sample Survey taken in 1999-2000 (NSS 99-00) and National Family Health Survey taken in 1998-99 (NFHS 98-99) estimated economic, educational and health indicators of various communities. These surveys were used extensively in the report submitted by the oversight committee.

For urban areas,

• • Only 5.6% of Forward Castes appear in upper income bracket with per capita income at or above Rs. 1925/Month (around US $40).
  • More than 25% of Forward castes per capita income stands below Rs. 500/Month (around $10)

Educational status

• • More than 30% of Forward Castes above 15 years of age are illiterate.
  • Only 8% of Forward Castes are graduates.
  • Around 85% of Forward Castes above 15 years of age have done equal to or below secondary Education (10 Years of Education)

Reservation for economically backward among Forward Castes

Currently Forward Castes will have to compete only in unreserved category in educational institutions and central government jobs irrespective of their educational/economical status in the society. Significant percentage of Forward Caste population lives below poverty line and more than 30% members of their communities are illiterates. To meet their aspirations, demands have been raised for providing separate reservations for economically poor among Forward castes. Many political parties like Congress, BJP, Samajwadi Party, LJP, Rastriya Janata Dal, Communist Party of India(Marxist), Bahujan Samaj Party have supported proposals for providing separate reservation for poor among forward castes. These parties have more than 400 members out of 542 members in existing parliament and ruling most of the states in India.

Timeline

• 1991- Congress Government headed by Narasimha Rao introduced 10% separate reservation for poor among forward castes.
• 1992 � Supreme court has ruled in Indra Sawhney case that separate reservation for poor among forward castes as invalid. Government has withdrawn separate reservation as per supreme court judgement.(Many other verdicts given in same case has been overruled by constitutional amendments like Quota in promotions, Exceeding 50% reservations for Tamilnadu,Judgement regarding creamy layer in the same case was not implemented by Tamilnadu so far.)
• 2003 � BJP Government appointed Group of Ministers for suggesting measures for implementation of separate reservation for poor among forward castes.
• 2004 - Task force has been setup to work out modalities for providing reservations to Poor among Forward castes.No information available regarding report submitted by this task force.
• 2006 �Present Congress Government appointed commission to study separate reservation for economically backward classes.

Comparison with other communities

Over Represented or Under Represented or Equally represented?

Many Backward class leaders allege Forward Castes are over represented in many spheres of life. State and central governments have not released adequate data regarding representation of various communities in their services and admissions to educational institutions.Most of the Private companies in India does not collect data regarding community of their employees.Very few reports are available regarding representation of various communities in Public/Private services and admissions in educational institutions.

• • In Tamilnadu Forward Castes have secured around 1.9% of seats in Medical colleges in 2004 and 2.68 % seats in 2005 as against their population percentage of 13%.See Also .This trend of poor representation is continuting atleast for the last 10years as per lawyers contention in one of the Reservation case.
  • Narendra committee report in Kerala has pointed out that Forward castes representation in Public services and PSU units is around 36 to 38% which is more or less equal to their population..
  • Karnataka Minister in state Assembly has announced that per capita income of the Brahmins is lesser than all communities including scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.
  • Oversight committee in its final report has indicated that Forward castes are placed better than Backward castes in some indicators and comparable with Backward castes in few indicators and backward castes are superior in some parameters like Health indicators in states like Assam,Maharastra,Haryana,West bengal etc.
  • National Survey 99-00 indicates that Forward castes are better placed than SC/ST in almost all parameters. However in rural unemployment,Forward castes score worser than all other communities.

See Also

• Indian caste system
• Social justice