Reservation on Economic Basis: Apprehensions and Probabilities
SR Darapuri, I.P.S.(Retd) and Organiser, Jan Manch
Recently Bhartiy Janta Party (BJP) has got through a
bill in Lok Sabha for 10% reservation on economic basis, Constitution has been
amended and consent of the President of India has also been obtained. It is also worth mentioning that it got
support from all the political parties. The Central government has issued a
government order and states like Gujrat, Uttar Pradesh and Uttrakhand have
decided to implement it. It is also strange that one organisation of Savaranas
(higher castes) has challenged it in the Supreme Court but it has denied
stopping its operation. According to this arrangement a reservation of 10% has
been given to economically backward classes in government services and
educational institutions both government and private.
Now it is to be seen whether this step by BJP is
meant to give real benefit to the poor or it is just an attempt to influence the
poor to get their votes. It is also true that so far BJP with all its promises
and slogans like "Sab ka Saath , Sabka Vikas" ( Development of all ) has failed
to solve the problems of weaker sections of society, farmers and workers.
Against a claim of creating 2 crore jobs it could create only a few lacs of
them. Job opportunities in government
sector are shrinking and the number of unemployed is increasing every day. In these circumstances it does not appear to
be possible to provide any real benefit to the poor sections through
reservation. Hence the solution to unemployment lies in creating more jobs and
not reservation. Along with it is necessary to make right to employment a
fundamental right and also implement reservation in private sector.
Now if you look at the proposed criteria for
reservation it is very unjust and impracticable because 90% of non- Scheduled
Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) population will come within the income limit
of 8 lacs for whom only 10% reservation has been proposed. Similarly the limit
of 5 acres of land is also very high whereas the number of small and marginal
farmers is very large. Similarly the
criterion of house plot size is also impracticable. Now if the government
really wants to benefit the poor the income criterion of 8 lacs should be
lowered to non-income tax payers and land criterion of 5 acres should be
lowered to small and marginal farmers and low income level groups.
If we look at the constitutional aspect of the
proposed reservation, at present there is no provision for reservation on
economic basis. Even earlier whenever reservation was given on economic basis,
it was struck down by Supreme Court/High Courts. The present criterion of
social and educational backwardness is collective whereas poverty is an
individual condition. Social and educational backwardness is the result of
historical situation whereas economic backwardness is the result of wrong
economic policies of the state and is subject to change. Hence the proposed reservation
is likely to be struck down by the Supreme Court. It is significant to note
that there is a cap of 50% on upper limit of reservation. There are chances of
this reservation being rejected on this ground also.
It has also to be kept in mind that the basic
purpose of the reservation is to bring SCs/STs and Other Backward Classes at par with others classes by providing them
representation through reservation in public services, legislature and
educational institutions. It is not a poverty alleviation programme.
Reservation came into existence to provide adequate representation for
Untouchables, who were historically discriminated against. Tribals and OBCs,
who were at the bottom of the caste system, have also been granted this
benefit. There is a need to implement poverty alleviations programmes to
eradicate poverty among higher castes. But the government is continuously
decreasing the budget for welfare schemes. Hence there is a need for giving
more budgets for welfare schemes.
Dalit leaders subscribing to Dalit- Bahujan ideology
raise a demand in the name of social justice that reservation should be given
to all castes in proportion to their population. This argument is at once non-nonsensical as
reservation is not a dole which should be distributed to all. It is a process
of giving representation in the main stream to those sections of society who
have been victims of historical injustice and discrimination. It is not meant to give economic benefit to
them. Apart from it when there is an upper limit of 50% reservation how it can
be raised to 100%. Dalits are also quite apprehensive that if today reservation
is accepted on economic basis then there is the possibility of a demand for
applying it to their reservation also.
One benefit of this announcement of Modi government
has been that the basis of opposition to SC/ST and OBC reservation by higher
castes has been eroded because it has been accepted by all the classes. It has
also given justification to the reservation given so far. It has also weakened
the united opposition to reservation by the upper castes which is in the
interest of democracy.
The haste and the point of time at which Modi
government has declared reservation on economic basis, it appears to be a
political game plan. With it BJP is trying to hold on to the poorer sections of
higher castes that have been moving away from it and opposition political
parties were trying to co-opt them, but it has got a limited success in
it. On the contrary the elite class of
Savaranas (higher castes) has got angry with it because they see a danger for
them because in future the upper limit of reservation can be raised. That is
why not from any other side but “Youth for Equality” who have been opposing
reservation on caste basis has filed a writ in the Supreme Court to oppose this
reservation. If economic based reservation is not struck down by Supreme Court
it can motivate the OBCs to raise demand for increase in reservation quota in
proportion to their population.
It is also well known that reservation provides an
opportunity to the exploiting class to make inroads into the exploited classes
and creates an elite class whose class interest motivates them to absorb them
into exploiting class. It has been seen that the elite class (creamy layer)
which has emerged among Dalits and OBCs, their class interest is to take the
maximum benefit of reservation for them.
It also often comes for discussion that the benefit of reservation has
remained confined to a few families only. It is also alleged that the elite
section of these classes often oppose the relaxation of criterion like lowering
of income limit for creamy layer or giving preference to the most backward
among these classes. Savarnas often raise this demand that elite sections and
the families which have once taken the benefit of reservation should not be
further given this benefit. This demand is vehemently opposed by elite sections
of SC/Sts and OBCs. But the new reservation police is bound speed up this discussion and the demand for
equitable benefits of reservation.
From the above discussion it is clear that although
the economic based reservation declared by Modi government is more motivated by
political considerations rather than giving any real benefit to the
economically poor sections of society but still it has got many implications.
If it is not struck down by the Supreme Court it will give rise to many new
equations in the society and can weaken Savarna unity. It can also lead to
unity in self interest among elite sections of SC/ST and OBC classes against
the remaining sections of these classes. As regards political gain to BJP it
will be very limited because whereas the economically poorer sections of
Savaranas may be happy with it but at the same time higher castes of Savaranas
may be unhappy. On the whole reservation on economic basis is a new phenomenon
which will have far reaching social and political implications.
