The Second Backward Classes Commission came into existence in 1979, under the chairmanship of B. P. Mandal. The Mandal commission in its report has listed 3743 castes and communities in the central list: The commission has recommended 27% reservation for other backward castes.

One of the primary objectives of the Mandal commission was to find out the criteria to be used to determine the socially, economically and educationally backward people. The commission found out 11 criteria for determining the social, economic and educational backwardness of the communities. 

These criteria fall into three categories as mentioned below.

A. Social Criteria:

• Social backwardness as considered by others. 
• Dependence mainly on manual labour for livelihood.
• Marriage of 25% girls and 10% boys in rural areas, and of 10% girls and 5% boys in urban area at an age below 17 years. 
• Female work participation 25% above the state average.

B. Educational Criteria:

• Children between 5 and 15 years never attending school is 25% above the state average. 
• Student drop-out rate is 25% above the state average. 
• Matriculation rate is 25% below the state average.

C. Economic Criteria:

• Average value of family assets 25% below the state average. 
• Families living in kachcha houses 25% above the state average. 
• Sources of drinking water at a distance beyond 500 meters for more than 50% of the families. Compulsion to take loan by households 25% above the state average.

These criteria were differently weighted; three points each for social indicators, two points each for educational indicators, and one point each for economic indicators adding up to 22 points. Any caste getting more than 11 points was counted as backward. The criteria of backwardness recommended by the Mandal Commission are widely applied today to determine the relative backwardness of a community.