Defending Reservation - The Unpopular Argument

This is probably the most debated issue in the Indian context ever since a child enters the world of competitive examinations post school.

While largely there are contrasting views given by those who get reservation and those who don't , today i try to present the argument of those who receive the benefits of reservation to those who don't.

Questions Addressed

1. Why  don't poor from general category get reservation?

2. Why do same people repeatedly get reservation?Why no creamy layer in SCs and STs?

3. Hasn't  Reservation has actually aggriviated sense of caste?

4. Has reservation actually benefitted the SCs?

5. What can be a solution out of this cycle?

Analysis

To address the first question we need to understand a bit of history about why was reservation  first introduced in India.

Most of us have an impression that reservation is a type of poverty alleviation tool to give preference to those underprivileged groups who don't have access to resources. We believe that a poor person who is talented should get access to reservation irrespective of his caste.

When BR Ambedkar was asked similar questions he explained his demand and the need for reservation. 

He said first of all it must be understood that he advocated for reservation only for legislators ( MP , MLA ) and government jobs. Reservation in education institutions was introduced later due to political reasons.

Thus the aim of being a legislator or a government servant is not to be rich. They are services and execute the role of government as a welfare state. While the law makers decide what welfare is to be done , the government servants are the ones who implement it.

Hence to help prosper  and to help people get out of poverty is the task of government. It is ensured by implementing schemes for this purpose e.g MGNREGA , PDS , RTE , stand up india , start up india etc.

Thus a person being poor or rich has nothing to do with getting preference for a job.

Okay , then why do we have reservation?

 Now since we have established that the role of government is social welfare of 'all' , thus it becomes a very important task to design policies rationally that are inclusive ( have interests of all sections in mind ) and that they are implemented without any favours or fervour.

Considering the past of India , the social system was dominated by the upper castes. The Brahmins were the ones who made the rules and kshatriyas were the ones who implemented them. Thus the shudras and the untouchables were always kept out of this exercise.

To ensure that in independent India , when policies are made , the opinions and interests of Dalits are also considered Ambedkar insisted that there should be a mechanism that ensures their role and participation in the process.

Hence reservation was introduced at law making level.

Okay , agreed. But why reservation in government jobs?

The policies of the government are implemented by the bureaucracy. It shall be worthless  no matter how inclusive the policies are , if they are not implemented well. Hence , representation in implementation was also necessary.

Consider yourself to be an untouchable from a rural area. You have to get your ration card , it is your right. But you have never talked to an upper caste man looking in his eyes . So imagine how difficult it would be for him to approach an upper caste babu in a government office to ask for his legitimate right.

This is where reservation in government jobs comes handy. It may not be necessary for the person who gets the reservation , but it is necessary for the person who deals with government.

That same untouchable person would be a lot more comfortable approaching a fellow shudra for his rights. Even if the government official concerned is from upper caste , reservation gives confidence to the untouchables that they have representation in the government. And if they are discriminated against , they will be heard.

Thus reservation is a necessity in governance as long as there are oppressed people in our society.

Okay, agreed that we need representation from the backward castes . But why do we allow some families to take benefit of reservation for generations? Why don't we limit reservations in SCs by introducing a concept like creamy layer in OBCs?

To understand this we must again keep in mind that the purpose of reservation is to offset discrimination and not poverty or access to education etc.

Now some may argue that the people who get reservation especially in coveted posts like IAS do not face discrimination. They are too big to be discriminated against.

Let us look at some data -

The highest post in political executive - PM.

There has been no PM from Sc/ST community even after getting 22% reservation in Lok Sabha for about 70 years now.

The senior most bureaucratic position - cabinet secretary.

There has been no cabinet secretary from sc/st community till date.

There was no secretary rank sc officer in central government for over a decade between 2001-2013.

In the present government there is only 1 secretary level officer from sc community out of total 89.

In January 2013 the national commission for SC received a formal complaint from 10 IAS officers of 1990 batch about being discriminated and deliberately being kept out of important policy making positions.

Now some may argue ( though not say in public ) that officers from these communities are incompetent.

So let's look at some case studies -

1. Narendra Kumar IAS 1988 batch , even though was considered based on general category in merit , he wasn't given his choice of cadre as UT. It was only after the central administrative tribunal stepped in that he was granted the cadre of his choice.

Now , he was empanelled as a joint secretary in 2007, but he has not been given any important portfolio ever since to kill his chances of becoming a secretary.

2. The Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission was recieving several complaints that the reserved category students face discriminatory low marks in interview. Hence always ended at the bottom of the final merit list.

So an experiment was conducted and the surnames of the candidate were withheld from the interviewers. The results were stunning as for the first time in decades reserved category students started appearing at top of the merit list.

3. Devi Dayal 1966 batch IAS said that after his empanelment as joint secretary in 1992 his name was recommended for a number of important departments. But he got rejected from all of them despite his name being on top of the list. It was only after he personally met the head of ministry of personnel that he was given the ministry of petroleum.

Source : https://www.governancenow.com/news/regular-story/policy-pariahs-why-there-are-so-few-scst-officers-top-echelons

4. Also , we must not forget that it was a person from scheduled caste community who drafted our constitution.

So what can we conclude?

It is observed that despite joining the elitist of the government services , the sc/st category candidates face discrimination.

 So even if a Tina dabi has 3 generations of reservation benefitiaries , she cannot be denied reservation because she is still prone to discrimination. She deserves reservation because she is an inspiration to thousands of dalit girls to come out of their false consciousness that they are mentally inferior to the upper castes. She deserves it because there is no guarantee that if she didn't apply from reserved category , she won't be discriminated against in interview based on her surname.

She may not deserve reservation for her own sake , but she deserves reservation for the sake of her community. 

If not for reservation , no matter your merit there is bound to be discrimination in a society which still practices castism in its core practices.

Only when reserved candidates with impeccable records will knock the doors shall they be able to break the transparent glass ceiling created by our castist views.

Also , the upper caste people advocating for imposing creamy layer in SCs is exactly what Ambedkar talked about. Policies being made about the Dalits without the participation of Dalits. Let the voice for this come from within the community. It is only then that this should be considered.

This was about the discrimination in services. Now there is a perception among people ( mostly upper castes ) who say " I don't believe in caste ".

When Ambedkar and Gandhi were debating the upliftment of harijans , Ambedkar argued - it shall be accepted that discrimination has ceased to exist when inter-caste marriages involving lower castes shall become prevalent. Because it is only then that this segregation of upper and lower caste shall go ,when they can have families together. Untill then there shall always be a feeling of  'us Vs them'. 

So to all those who can say that they won't mind marrying a lower caste partner ( with no conditions attached such as ' my parents won't agree ' ) have the right to say discrimination no longer exists and ' we don't believe in caste '.

P.S. I also wish to address a very important            ' meme ' that circulates the social media.

 It says quoting ( falsely ) Bill Gates - " India is backward because you hire the reserved and we are advanced because we hire the deserved "

This is incorrect on 2 major counts -

1. That is a private firm which is being talked about. To put it in perspective there are no reservations for private jobs even in India.

2. Even if we agree that he meant the US system of governance and it's government , as established earlier all major policy making posts in India are dominated by 'general' category people. So you know who to be blamed for the inefficiency of our system.

Let's also look at the other perspective ,

Has the reservation really benefitted the SCs and STs?

The answer shall be NO!.

Because it has narrowed down their vision to seek success only to the fields that have reservation. This has prevented them from enjoying the benefits of the economic boom post liberalisation of the Indian economy.

What is needed is best described in Kanshiram's words 

" The dalits shall be empowered the day when they start giving jobs to the upper castes rather than being limited in thier scope to seeking jobs through reservation".

Thus what is needed is efforts like Dalit Chamber of Commerce and Industry which is helping Dalits build up social and cultural capital to become successful entrepreneurs. It has been successful in creating dalit enterprises in gujrat worth  ₹5000 crore.

Also , on the part of government it is necessary to allow the private sector to flourish and allow creation of high paying jobs which can absorb the talents from all irrespective of their birth identity.

On the part of people it is required to give up our obsession with government jobs and seeing them as the only option for success in life. Rather it should be seen as a service to the nation and to the depressed.

Thanks for reading this far!

You may not agree with what say , but the objective of this post was to highlight the other perspective which gets lost. Also don't pinpoint to any specific point and stating it's rebuttal , the point here is to understand the idea behind this and moderate your views on reservation. This issue requires as much  empathy and self introspection as application of logic.

Amit Chauhan!!