1946FOUNDING RECORD
Constituent Assembly
The Constitution-making process proceeds through the Constituent Assembly.
Image provenance ↗ ARCHIVE IN PREPARATION · 2026
RESERVATION
REFORMS
A PUBLIC SPACE FOR SERIOUS CONVERSATION.
Some questions are too important to be reduced to slogans. We are building a place where history, law, policy, data, public movements, arguments and counterarguments can be examined together — with sources attached.
READ THE RECORDQUESTION CLAIMSDISAGREE WITH RESPECTCITE SOURCES
NOT A VERDICT.A place to examine the record.
SOURCES FIRST.Context before conclusion.
THE RECORD MOVES YEAR BY YEAR
A timeline of key milestones
Keep scrolling. The page stays still while the record moves sideways.
26 JAN 1950CONSTITUTION
Constitution comes into force
CONSTITUTION
OF INDIAArticles including 15, 16 & 340 form part of the constitutional framework relevant to the subject.
OF INDIAArticles including 15, 16 & 340 form part of the constitutional framework relevant to the subject.
The Constitution of India comes into force.
Legislative Department ↗1953–55COMMISSION
First Backward Classes Commission
KAKA KALELKAR
COMMISSIONSet up 29 January 1953 · report submitted 30 March 1955
COMMISSIONSet up 29 January 1953 · report submitted 30 March 1955
The first commission under Article 340 examined the conditions of socially and educationally backward classes.
Government archive ↗1979COMMISSION
Mandal Commission constituted
SECOND BACKWARD
CLASSES COMMISSIONChair: B. P. Mandal
CLASSES COMMISSIONChair: B. P. Mandal
The Second Backward Classes Commission is constituted by the Government of India.
NCBC record ↗31 DEC 1980REPORT
Mandal report submitted
REPORT OF THE
SECOND BACKWARD
CLASSES COMMISSIONGovernment of India · 1980
SECOND BACKWARD
CLASSES COMMISSIONGovernment of India · 1980
The Commission submits its report to the Government of India.
Ministry archive ↗13 AUG 1990POLICY ORDER
Office Memorandum
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
OFFICE MEMORANDUM27% reservation in Central Government services for OBCs/SEBCs
OFFICE MEMORANDUM27% reservation in Central Government services for OBCs/SEBCs
The Government issues the O.M. that becomes central to the litigation later decided in Indra Sawhney.
Official O.M. ↗16 NOV 1992LANDMARK JUDGMENT
Indra Sawhney
A nine-judge Constitution Bench delivers the landmark judgment in Indra Sawhney v. Union of India.
Supreme Court leading case ↗17 JUN 199577TH AMENDMENT
Article 16(4A)
CONSTITUTION
(77TH AMENDMENT)
ACT, 1995Reservation in promotion for SCs and STs
(77TH AMENDMENT)
ACT, 1995Reservation in promotion for SCs and STs
The 77th Amendment inserts Article 16(4A).
Official amendment ↗2018102ND AMENDMENT
NCBC gets constitutional status
ARTICLES 338B
& 342AConstitution (102nd Amendment) Act, 2018
& 342AConstitution (102nd Amendment) Act, 2018
The amendment gives constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes and inserts Articles 338B and 342A.
Official amendment ↗TODAYOPEN RECORD
The debate continues
New judgments, legislation, data and public arguments continue to shape the subject. The archive will grow with the record.
Follow the build →1946 → Today
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Each source belongs to a larger context. The aim is to place those contexts beside one another instead of turning them into isolated screenshots or slogans.
1946Constituent Assembly · public-domain image
COMMISSION REPORTFIRST BACKWARD CLASSES COMMISSIONGovernment archive · 1955COMMISSION REPORTMANDAL COMMISSIONGovernment archive · 1980POLICY RECORDOFFICE MEMORANDUM13 August 1990 · NCBC.png)
INSTITUTIONParliament House · 1926 · CC0
COURTSupreme Court · Pinakpani · CC BY-SA 4.0
PUBLIC SQUARE PRINCIPLE 01EVERY SERIOUS CLAIM DESERVES A SOURCE.
PUBLIC SQUARE PRINCIPLE 02EVERY SERIOUS DISAGREEMENT DESERVES A HEARING.
PUBLIC RECORD / INSTITUTIONParliament House, New Delhi
THE PUBLIC SQUARE01Primary sources over screenshots. 02Context over fragments. 03Arguments and counterarguments together. 04Corrections visible, not hidden.
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