The Hindu : Rising claims for the shrinking pie

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Sunday, Jun 01, 2003

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Rising claims for the shrinking pie

So acrimonious is the nature of any discussion on reservation that only two views filter through the din: pro or anti; neither of which has helped the larger cause of turning India into an egalitarian society, say K. V. Prasad and Anita Joshua.

RESERVATION BY any name or criteria evokes strong feelings. So shrill that a proper debate on the policy is rendered well nigh impossible. So acrimonious is the nature of any discussion on the subject that only two views filter through the din: pro or anti; neither of which has helped the larger cause of turning India into an egalitarian society, the original raison d'etre of affirmative action.

More so after the then Prime Minister, V. P. Singh, decided to implement the Mandal Commission recommendations in 1990. Welcomed and reviled with equal passion, it triggered more than just the violence that made headlines; it generated caste-consciousness among the urban elite, sharpened animosities among caste-conscious societies and prepared a fertile ground for caste politics. Today, caste has taken a firmer grip on the Indian polity and society than ever before in its 55-and-a-half-year-old nationhood with reservation being seen more as a short-cut to success than a measure to set right a social ill. In fact, in many States, particularly Uttar Pradesh and Bihar — which account for 122 of the 545 seats in the Lok Sabha — the powerful backward classes have begun indulging in competitive backwardness to corner the benefits of reservation; making holes in a social fabric that is already stretched thin.

Amid this comes the Rajasthan Chief Minister, Ashok Gehlot's call to give 14 per cent reservation to the poor among the forward castes. The politically-loaded move just months away from the State Assembly elections at first unnerved the Bharatiya Janata Party which recovered from the shock and then made the issue its own.

First recorded instances of reservation for the backward and depressed classes in India were in the princely states of Kolhapur in the west and Mysore in the south. It gradually grew through reservation in the Presidency of Madras on to the Poona Pact till it got enshrined in the Constitution. Though introduced as a sunset clause, reservation continued for realising the basic aim of empowering the Scheduled Castes (SCs), the Scheduled Tribes (STs) and now the Other Backward Classes (OBCs), and bringing them at a par with the rest of society. But the objective remains unfulfilled even after half a century.

Reservation in jobs did bring about some changes in the economic status of the SCs and the STs but not to the extent desired. While they got their share of the jobs' pie in the building of `Temples of Modern India' — as Jawaharlal Nehru termed the public sector undertakings and infrastructure projects — they were not able to bridge the gap between themselves and other castes.

Though not many question the commitment of India's founding fathers to equality, the sincerity of their successors to the cause does not bear close scrutiny. For it is not conviction, but political expediency and up-manship that has, more often than not, inspired them to take up the cudgels for the marginalised. The recent move by the Rajasthan Chief Minister is a perfect case in point.

As political scientist Yogendra Yadav of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies puts it: "It was a smart political move on the part of the Rajasthan Chief Minister, Ashok Gehlot, to demand a constitutional amendment for providing reservation to the economically backward among the `upper' castes. He evidently anticipated a move from the BJP in the same direction and neutralised an issue that it might have used against the Congress in the coming elections."

But it is not a prudent policy, say both Mr. Yadav and the political sociologist, D. L. Sheth. Such a reservation will not be easy to implement as "anybody can get an income certificate''. And it would be susceptible to fraud as no one has yet come up with a way to operationalise it effectively.

Tardy though the implementation of caste reservation is, 95 per cent of the caste certificates are genuine, say social scientists. If an economic criterion is put in place, the apprehension is that the rich and the powerful in rural India would have a better chance of securing a fake income certificate and cornering the benefit. The question of operationalising economic reservation arises only if it passes the legal test as, points out Prof. Sheth — member of the first National Backward Classes Commission — there is no constitutional provision for such a measure. The only way to make it possible would be through a constitutional amendment.

Now that the Government is toying with the idea of setting up a commission to study and recommend reservation for the economically backward among the forward castes, the issue will remain in the realm of public debate for a while; given the tendency of such exercises to drag on indefinitely. While this might well be the case, the fact of the matter is that such affirmative action was not conceived as a measure for removing poverty; it was meant for restoring social justice. Poverty can be removed through special programmes of which there is no dearth in this country. In fact, there is a view that the demand for economic reservation is aimed at discrediting the policy as a whole. While the economic criterion in reservation has been bandied about for a while now as a counter to caste reservation, its operationalisation would lend itself to so much fraud that it could well end up ringing the death knell of the policy.

An impending threat to reservation is posed by the steady dismantling of the public sector. The Dalit leadership now underscores that the gap in supply and demand for reserved category jobs would widen manifold what with the Governments, both in the Centre and at the States, implementing the policy of disinvestment and distancing themselves from the public sector undertakings. And, even as "non-availability" of candidates keeps many "reserved" jobs vacant, the basic question is where are the jobs?

The chuming during the Mandal stir.

As it is, with the state failing miserably in lettering all its citizens, let alone providing quality education, the reservation policy has had limited success even in the Government sector. Despite reservation in appointments, the representation of the Scheduled Castes as on January 1, 2000, was 11.29 per cent in Group `A' services and 12.68 per cent in Group `B' services of the Central Government against their population percentage of about 16.5. The representation of the Scheduled Tribes is much lower and the situation is more or less the same in public sector banks and insurance companies. But, the least representation is in Central Universities; not because of want of eligible candidates but because of sheer absence of will.

No doubt, there has been some talk of extending reservation to the private sector. But with a constructive review of the policy being practically impossible, little thought has been given to put in place a mechanism for social audit of those private companies seeking Government subsidies or bidding for Government tenders, or for de-listing communities to broad-base the benefits of reservation. Even the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution was concerned over the development. In its report, it devoted a chapter to the `Pace of socio-economic change' and one of the recommendations dealt with this aspect. The Commission said: "It should be mandatorily stipulated in the Memorandum of Understanding that the policy of reservation in favour of SCs, STs and BCs shall be continued even after privatisation or disinvestment in the same form as it exists in the Government and this should also be in respective statutes of reservation..."

The struggle of the under-privileged, especially against the stifling attitude of the "upper" classes, became more pronounced during the first part of the last century. The movement against the Bramhinical order acquired steam with B.R. Ambedkar in western India and E.V. Ramaswami Naicker `Periyar' in southern India, becoming icons. The Congress, which remained in the forefront of India's freedom struggle, had leaders such as Babu Jagjivan Ram who enjoyed unparalleled support of the `Harijans'. His death created a void and the 1980s saw the emergence of Kanshi Ram who now heads the Bahujan Samaj Party.

In the past two decades, the politics of reservation has thrown up a new set of leaders and increasingly, a polarisation of sorts is now being witnessed in the movement, with some of them espousing consciously or otherwise the cause of sub-castes.

With the emergence of the two Yadavs — Mulayam Singh and Laloo Prasad — among others as leaders in the north, the empowerment of this particular backward caste has led to a greater awareness among people of other castes. That political empowerment is the only tool is something both Kanshi Ram and the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mayawati, do not forget to remind their followers.

The latest move to provide jobs to the economically backward among the forward castes has evoked a mixed response. While Ram Vilas Paswan of the LJP and S. Ramadoss of the PMK have backed it with the rider that it should not dilute existing reservation, Udit Raj of the Justice Party has opposed it.

Do the economically backward among the forward castes really require reservation? Even though only a small section registers itself with the employment exchange, creation of employment remains the biggest challenge. Irrespective of this challenge, education is certainly most important in spreading awareness and moving towards creating a society with no social barriers.

While such a course would take time, the onus also lies on the `forward looking' `upper' castes to change the old order. There is need to change their attitude and work towards dismantling the social barriers created by age-old practices. It is not as if this is not happening; attitudes in urban India are changing. It may be a minuscule percentage but there is a sub-conscious shift which needs to be taken forward at a greater pace.

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