A short on B P Mandal

            B. P. MANDAL

Bindheshwari Prasad Mandal (1918–1982) was an Indian parliamentarian who served as the chairman of the Second Backward Classes Commission (popularly known as the Mandal Commission). B.P. Mandal was a big landlord from Saharsa in Northern Bihar and was a Yadav by caste. The commission's report mobilised a segment of the Indian population known as "Other Backward Classes" (OBCs) and initiated a fierce debate on the policy for underrepresented and underprivileged groups in the Indian polity. B. P. Mandal came from a community designated as an Other Backward Class (OBC) in India's system promoting positive discrimination. Mandal was a Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha for the state of Bihar from 1967 to 1970 and 1977 to 1979. He was the first OBC Chief Minister of Bihar, governing for 30 days in 1968, a period of intense political instability (his predecessor was Chief Minister for only three days). In December 1978, Prime Minister Morarji Desai appointed a five member civil rights commission under the chairmanship of Mandal. The commission's report was completed in 1980 and recommended that a significant proportion of all government and educational places be reserved for applicants from the Other Backward Classes. The commission's report was tabled indefinitely by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. A decade later, Prime Minister V. P. Singh implemented the recommendations of the Mandal Report. Mandal and his wife, Sita Mandal, were survived by five sons and two daughters. The third son, Maninder Kumar Mandal (popularly known as "Om jee"),and his son Nikhil Mandal are active in national and state politics.He died on April 13, 1982 The Government of India issued a stamp in honour of Mandal in 2001. A college named in his honour, B. P. Mandal Engineering College, was founded in 2007.