OBC Development Dividend

States demonstrating improving OBC Human Development Index — education, health, economic participation — receive an additional 1.5% devolution weight, measured using NITI Aayog's independently conducted five-yearly OBC HDR.

This metric cuts across north–south lines, rewarding genuine investment in OBC welfare regardless of geography. The independence of the measurement source is the gaming defence: states do not self-report their HDI improvements.