RESERVATION CONUNDRUM

The Supreme Court of India has upheld the validity of 103rd Constitutional Amendment 2019. The amendment provided for 10% reservation in educational institutions and government jobs for ‘Economically Weaker Sections’(EWS). Before this, the provision of reservation was only for those communities who were regarded as ‘backward classes’. This backwardness is measured by level of education in the community and their ascribed status in the caste-divided society. So the reservation was provided for the communities which came under Scheduled Castes(SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Other Backward Classes. And these communities, since they already are eligible for reservation, are not eligible for the EWS reservation. Essentially, a new quota of reserved seats has been created which are accessible only to poor from ‘forward castes’ and not to poor of backward classes. Some deem this step as reservation for forward classes. 

This new legislation has led to many questions. Those who are against this new law contend that it violates the principal of equality by excluding SC, ST and OBC. Other contention being, it exceeds the cap on percentage of seats that can be reserved. In the Indra Sawhney Case (1992), the Supreme Court had  ruled that no more than 50% seats can be reserved in totality. In the same case, the apex court laid out that reservation can’t be grounded solely on economic grounds. So basically, it was argued that the EWS reservation is unconstitutional.

The  bench of five judges upheld the validity of the law by majority of 3:2. It has answered all the questions that were raised. It said that the constitution provides special provisions for ‘backward’ classes and those who are poor can be deemed as ‘backward’. Thus, it also reversed its earlier judgement about economic criteria as sole ground for reservation. On the question of limit over percentage of seats available for reservation the court said that such limit is not ‘inflexible’. So, the question whether the EWS quota is valid or not is answered for now. The legal debate is settled. 

However, legality of things aside, this whole episode throws some serious questions. What was the purpose of reservation? To what extent has it served? What are the loopholes? Do we need a revamp altogether? In fact, why there is such clamour for reservation? Who needs reservation in true sense? Is reservation a short-sighted measure?

Giving reservation to a group or community is like giving it a considerable head start in a race where other  groups or communities are also competing. The logic suggested in this positive discrimination is the fact that the some groups have been historically discriminated. These groups never got the opportunity to acquire skills needed for competing with others. While other non-discriminated groups had all the required means at their disposal. So, reservation was introduced as a level playing field. 

The discrimination against backward classes is attributed to casteism. It is very deeply ingrained in our society and attitudes. This might not be visible in our daily interactions but a macro picture of things would tell things differently. For example, majority of sewer-cleaners come from the scheduled castes. Most of the menial jobs are done by ‘lower castes’. But how does caste of a person limits his/her choice of profession? After all, we have a meritocratic education and examination system. Public jobs and institutions are open to all, irrespective of their caste, given that they are qualified enough. Thus it is argued that reservation runs against meritocracy.

There is a counter argument. Indeed, merit should be the determining factor but everyone should have an opportunity to develop merit and to polish their skills. In the ‘lowers castes’ same profession is practised across generations. Of course, it’s not those olden times when profession was strictly determined on basis of caste. But such system was perpetuated for a long enough time that  inter-generational continuity in profession still exists even when there is no strict social code whereby occupation is dictated by caste. How so? For a student from ‘lower caste’ becoming a Grade 1 level officer or a software engineer or a surgeon is a very ambitious affair, almost a distant dream. But for a student from ‘forward caste’, not so much, although still a challenging task. What we must acknowledge is the cultural barriers that have grown around backward communities. A student from such community would look around him and find that most of his kinsmen are doing ‘ordinary’ jobs. There would be low level of literacy around him/her. Chances are he/she wouldn’t find a inspiring figure to rise above ordinary order of things. Worst of all, he/she might subconsciously develop a belief that he/she also is meant to do the same things as the rest in the community. Essence being, social and cultural environment is of crucial importance. Backward classes are stuck in this trap. To pull them out of it we need affirmative actions like reservation, so our constitution-makers thought.

Thus one can say that reservation was used to address inherent structural inequalities in our society and to compensate for historical injustice. Giving reservation on the basis of economic conditions only has added a whole new dimension. Essentially, reservation has now also become a poverty-alleviation tool. The SC argued that the Constitution allows reservation for ‘backward’ groups even if the backwardness is on the account of economic conditions. Interestingly, by this judgement, historical injustice (perpetuating social inequality) and poverty are now placed on same level. How tenable is such an observation? That’s whole another debate. 

One must note the context in which the demand for EWS quota arose. In fact, the Parliament passed the law just around a year or so before general elections. Undoubtedly, the issue of EWS reservation was of great electoral importance. One can also say that the then incumbent government was rewarded too for this step as they bagged a huge majority in the lower house. People who were not under the ambit of reservation felt discriminated. They felt that caste-based reservation has grown effectively redundant and is extending undue favour to the ‘backward’ classes. Here is an interesting episode. A Civil Services Exam topper from a certain year, at an eliminating stage of the exam could not clear the cutoff for general category. But she happened to be from Scheduled Castes and scored just above the cutoff for the category. Nothing seems unusual except the fact that both her parents were already bureaucrats. Given the status of her parents people wondered whether she deserved reservation benefits. 

 We must take this opportunity to examine whether caste based boundaries are really omitted in present times. We certainly  have come a long way since our independence. Shackles of casteism have been definitely broken in many aspects. Caste based identities are losing relevance. More so in urban spaces. Now that we are in the era of internet and globalisation, it can’t be denied that we live in a much more democratic society than seven decades ago. People from all castes and societies are able to receive exposure of all sorts and come  out of their echo chambers. One must keep in view the fact that reservation was envisioned as a temporary measure by makers of our constitution. We should asses to what extent caste-based reservation has served its purpose and whether the due time has come to move on.   

On the other hand, poverty pervades across all castes and communities. It is a common discriminator.  Several decades later, may be there would come such a time when we would need reservation on economic grounds only. Maybe we would acknowledge new forms of discrimination and extend reservation accordingly. 

Meanwhile we seem to be missing a bigger issue. Clamour for reservation is so vigorous because we have  very less number of public jobs and quality educational institutions when we are the 2nd most populated nation on the earth. We should focus on increasing the size of cake. If the cake gets bigger, quarrel about who gets what part of it might settle. Our state has been failing us in providing adequate employment opportunities and delivering on the front of human development. Maybe instead of asking for reserved quota we should demand for better education and more employment opportunities. Reservation won’t do good in the long run.

P.S. :- I am a beneficiary of reservation.