The history of India is replete with examples where certain sections of the people faced untold discrimination at the hands of certain privileged groups.The constitution makers of India were aware of the century-long historical injustice faced by these sections of the society.Hence,they unanimously agreed to provide reservation benefits to the socially disadvantaged sections of Indian society.The objective of reservation system was to provide equality of opportunity and eradicate caste-based discrimination faced by these vulnerable sections.This is in accordance with the objective of 'social justice' as mentioned explicitly in the preamble and the constitution of India.
The reservation policy has empowered the marginalised communities to participate in the growth of the nation.In the realm of politics,their participation was particularly note-worthy.The rise of Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP) in Uttar Pradesh is a case in point where the Dalits were able to assert themselves politically.We have had a Indian president,chief ministers,a speaker of Parliament and a Chief Justice from the Dalit community.In premier educational institutions like IITs and IIMs,students from backward communities are adequately represented.
Yet,after 67 years of independence,a complete eradication of social inequalities remains a far-fetched dream.Despite the positive discrimination,the reservation system failed to fulfill the desired objectives as was expected.Only the privileged of the backward classes continues to avail its benefits while excluding many needy people from its ambit.The tribal communities in areas affected by Left Wing Extremism(LWE) and North-east region do not receive even basic education,leave alone reservation benefits.
Particularly conspicious is the absence of SCs and STs in the realm of culture,media and private companies.Recently, the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies(CDS),conducted a survey in 37 Delhi-based publication companies and television channels.Surprisingly.not a single employee in these institutions belonged to the SC,ST or adivasi communities.This survey brings forth the conclusion that social discrimination continues unabated in Indian society which aspires to be a super power in near future.
Thus,the social condition in India is still not ripe to dismantle the caste-based reservation system.We do need quota system,but it should be better targeted.The government may think of introducing a 'self-destruct' clause,wherein the reservation benefits cease to apply to those who have already benefited through reservation and brought into mainstream.In a phased manner,it should be dismantled which would enable the needy to enter the mainstream society,while giving due importance to promoting merit and efficiency.
Also.in my view,promoting diversity in both public and private institutions.would go a long way in ensuring adequate representation of the disadvantaged sections.The diversity-index based incentive,which would include SCs,STs,OBCs and women would even correct the gender discrimination in employment.The grant of concessions,recognition and subsidies to the private sector should be linked with promoting diversity in their labor force.The principle of diversity based incentive was even mooted by Sachar committee constituted by the former UPA regime.
Above all,the merit and efficiency should not be compromised in any manner.That said.reservation ought not to be used by political parties as a gimmick so as to garner votes.After the Indira-Sahwney judgement,the National Commission of Backward Classes(NCBC) was authorized to identify the backward communities based on detailed survey.The views of NCBC should be taken into consideration while determining the eligible backward communities by the political parties.As former president,Dr.A.P.J.Abdul kalam has very rightly said"India need development politics rather than mere political politics".
The reservation policy has empowered the marginalised communities to participate in the growth of the nation.In the realm of politics,their participation was particularly note-worthy.The rise of Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP) in Uttar Pradesh is a case in point where the Dalits were able to assert themselves politically.We have had a Indian president,chief ministers,a speaker of Parliament and a Chief Justice from the Dalit community.In premier educational institutions like IITs and IIMs,students from backward communities are adequately represented.
Yet,after 67 years of independence,a complete eradication of social inequalities remains a far-fetched dream.Despite the positive discrimination,the reservation system failed to fulfill the desired objectives as was expected.Only the privileged of the backward classes continues to avail its benefits while excluding many needy people from its ambit.The tribal communities in areas affected by Left Wing Extremism(LWE) and North-east region do not receive even basic education,leave alone reservation benefits.
Particularly conspicious is the absence of SCs and STs in the realm of culture,media and private companies.Recently, the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies(CDS),conducted a survey in 37 Delhi-based publication companies and television channels.Surprisingly.not a single employee in these institutions belonged to the SC,ST or adivasi communities.This survey brings forth the conclusion that social discrimination continues unabated in Indian society which aspires to be a super power in near future.
Thus,the social condition in India is still not ripe to dismantle the caste-based reservation system.We do need quota system,but it should be better targeted.The government may think of introducing a 'self-destruct' clause,wherein the reservation benefits cease to apply to those who have already benefited through reservation and brought into mainstream.In a phased manner,it should be dismantled which would enable the needy to enter the mainstream society,while giving due importance to promoting merit and efficiency.
Also.in my view,promoting diversity in both public and private institutions.would go a long way in ensuring adequate representation of the disadvantaged sections.The diversity-index based incentive,which would include SCs,STs,OBCs and women would even correct the gender discrimination in employment.The grant of concessions,recognition and subsidies to the private sector should be linked with promoting diversity in their labor force.The principle of diversity based incentive was even mooted by Sachar committee constituted by the former UPA regime.
Above all,the merit and efficiency should not be compromised in any manner.That said.reservation ought not to be used by political parties as a gimmick so as to garner votes.After the Indira-Sahwney judgement,the National Commission of Backward Classes(NCBC) was authorized to identify the backward communities based on detailed survey.The views of NCBC should be taken into consideration while determining the eligible backward communities by the political parties.As former president,Dr.A.P.J.Abdul kalam has very rightly said"India need development politics rather than mere political politics".
The Supreme court recently struck down the notification that proposed inclusion of jats in the central list of Other Backward Classes(OBC).Pronouncing the judgement,Justice Ranjan Gogoi said that caste should not be the only factor in providing reservations to the communities.Instead,social and educational backwardness play a significant role in determining the reservation benefits to be provided to the communities.The concept of ‘social justice’ entails caste as a determining factor to correct the historical injustice meted out to certain communities.However,only the privileged of the backward communities has particularly benefitted to which a prominent sociologist has described as ‘Brahminisation of Dalit’.Therefore,in my view,the government may think of including new parameters (besides caste) in identifying communities.For instance,the transgender communities are relatively underprivileged in Indian society.Yet,for the sake of political mobilization of communities,the government seems to turn a blind eye on the transgender community.
ReplyDeletenew practices,methods and yardsticks would have to be continuously evolved moving away from the 'caste-centric' definition of backwardness,the court said.
ReplyDeleteReservation is a pre-Independence policy inaugurated by GOI Act,1935, which created the schedules listing so called listing SC and ST.It was the outcome of the Poona pact.Thus, reservation is a fundamentally political promise made in acknowledgement of the fact that caste literally excludes sizeable communities from the Indian society.Reservation should cease to exist from the day that oppression and gross inequalities based on caste cease to exist , because all castes would then have full citizenship.
ReplyDeleteThe patel community in Gujarat agitated demanding reservation for their community. This strike or agitation is not an end in itself. It is because other dominant communities lie Jats and Gujjars are likely to further their demands for reservation. The supreme court has already ruled that caste cannot be the sole criterion to determine the social and educational backwardness of a community. Factors other than caste need to be evolved so as to accord flexibility to grant reservation. Moreover, the root cause behind the recent agitations is that there is scarcity of productive employment in the country.Despite impressive economic growth that India has achieved, the term ‘jobless growth’ has gained prominence. The ‘labour intensive’ manufacturing sector growth has stalled in recent times. Whatever jobs are being created, that is conspicuous in ‘capital-intensive’ service sector that require specialized skills. For medium and long term, the government has to redesign its development model to create large scale productive employment in tune with what the International Labour Organisation calls ‘decent working conditions’. The government must also radically revise the reservation policy.
ReplyDeleteThe radical rethinking on reservation should aim at i) excluding the creamy section of the OBCs/SCs/STs from availing benefits beyond a time limit and ii)developing the capabities(like skills etc) of the deprived and excluded communities beyond providing them needful reservation in admissions to higher educational institutes and jobs.
ReplyDeleteThere are two rational ways to rethink our reservation policy. The caste factor cannot be done away with as caste is still a prominent reason for the socio-economic backwardness of a community. Instead well-off families from the SCs,STsor OBCs should be dis-reserved, once they have attained a level of socio-economic prosperity. The resulting gap arising out of the dis-reservation should be filled by other backward communities including trans-genders.Second. there are certain under-privileged families or rural communities from the upper caste who are unable to compete with their counterparts in the urban areas. Such students or communities could be provided with necessary scholarships, free tuitions, soft loans and skill-development initiatives.Reasonable weightage may be given in marks to such underprivileged in the category of OC i.e an addition of marks without raising reservation quotas.These efforts should be coupled with a vigorous national effort to improve school education outcomes.
ReplyDeleteOnce we eliminate much of the scourge,we can reduce reservations by one or two percent each year.Within a generation, discrimination by birth will be a thing of the past, and reservations will not be necessary.
Economic backwardness should not be the sole criteria for reservations as there is no specified formula for its calculation.Also economic backwardness is a dynamic concept, per se.
ReplyDelete