How much is OBC reservation does not have one answer. OBC means Other Backward Classes. In central jobs and central colleges the OBC share is 27 percent. It settled after the Mandal Commission. In the 1992 Indra Sawhney case the Supreme Court kept a general ceiling of 50 percent on total reservation. The creamy layer stays out of this 27. A state’s percent can differ from the Centre’s 27. Do not paste one WhatsApp number on the whole country.
This is the position on 3 October 2026. The numbers here are the numbers in the law and the reports. A clean OBC population percent was not printed in the census.
The Centre’s sum
The usual split in central recruitment is read like this. SC 15 percent. ST 7.5 percent. OBC 27 percent. EWS 10 percent, and that is separate from OBC. EWS came later, for the poorer general category. Add 15, 7.5 and 27 and you get 49.5, around 50. The EWS 10 sits outside that old sum. So the Centre’s total quota can look past 50 today. This is addition. Not the cutoff of one recruitment.
27 does not reach every OBC family. A family above the creamy-layer income limit stays out of this 27. The 8 lakh limit is another page. Before filling a form, check the central list and the creamy layer.
Why states differ
A state job runs on the state list. A caste can be OBC in one state and not in another. In Madhya Pradesh, OBC was 14 percent before 2019. The Kamal Nath government issued a 27 percent notice. Recruitment is still on 87:13. Appointments moved on 87, 13 is on hold. Hold is not cancellation, and 27 on every advertisement is not a final yes. On 19 February 2026 the Supreme Court sent the case back to the High Court and gave no opinion.
In Maharashtra the fight is not about raising a percent. It is about the Kunbi certificate. Jarange wants Maratha families with Kunbi genealogy inside the OBC quota. The fast ended on 17 September 2026, with three months given. A certificate is not a letter.
Where the population percent is
People fold reservation and population into one number. Reservation is the share in jobs and college. Population is the count. In the 2011 census castes were written down, and the data could not be read. So a clean OBC population percent is not in a government table. That is why the demand for a separate column and a drop-down is on.
Madhya Pradesh told the court that the OBC population is above 51 percent. That is an affidavit and a 2022 report. Not a new census. The Rashtriya OBC Morcha in Hazaribagh put the population at about 70 percent. That is their claim. Not a printed census number. In 2011, Scheduled Castes in Madhya Pradesh were 15.6 percent and Scheduled Tribes 21.1 percent. That is a census number. Not OBC.
The line about crossing 50
Adding 14 and 27 on paper goes past 50. That is arithmetic. Not a verdict. The 50 ceiling became the general rule in Indra Sawhney. Crossing it is a case the court sees. A WhatsApp post does not break the ceiling. A state’s 27 does not sit on top of the Centre’s 27. They are different recruitments.
Pages in the same line: 27 percent in Madhya Pradesh, the separate census column, Maratha and OBC and creamy layer at 8 lakh.
A simple example
Say a central job has 100 posts. The OBC 27 posts come from that 27 percent, if the notice writes 27. A creamy-layer candidate does not enter those 27. In a state job the same candidate runs on the state’s percent. In a held recruitment in Madhya Pradesh, a list can come for 87 of 100, and 13 can wait. 27 does not print itself on every list.
The numbers here are the numbers in the reports. Central OBC 27. SC 15. ST 7.5. EWS 10, separate. The 50 ceiling from 1992. Madhya Pradesh notice from 14 to 27, recruitment on 87:13. 51 is an affidavit. 70 is the morcha’s claim. There is no clean OBC population percent.
Which percent to read while filling a form
If the form is SSC, railway or a central university, read 27, and read the central OBC list. If it is a state PSC or a state college, read that state’s notice. A Madhya Pradesh notice can write 27, and a held recruitment can still come out on 87:13. The two lines are not one result. Read the percent in the notice, not in a forward.
The census column does not change this percent today. If the column is added, a population number can come. After the number, the government and the court decide whether the quota rises. A march, a road block or a fast does not raise the percent by itself. The 6 October Jharkhand block is a column demand. Chalo Delhi on 1 November is a column demand too. Neither is an order changing this 27.
The wrong sums that travel on forwards
One forward adds 27 and 10 and calls it 37 for OBC. That is wrong. 10 is EWS, not OBC. Another adds a state’s 27 and the Centre’s 27 and calls it 54. That is wrong. They are different recruitments. A third calls 51 or 70 today’s census. That is wrong. 51 is an affidavit. 70 is the morcha’s claim. A clean population percent comes when the form has an OBC column and the data is printed.
Advice:
The plain point is this. OBC reservation does not have one percent. In central jobs and central colleges it is 27, outside the creamy layer. A state’s percent is different. In Madhya Pradesh the 27 notice exists, and recruitment is on 87:13. Do not take 51 or 70 as a census number. Check the central list and the state list before a form. Read the percent in the notice of the year you sat the exam. A WhatsApp percent is not an order.
