Reservation Policy: Time to Rollback, Recast

The Supreme Court in its recent judgment has reiterated its earlier stand on reservation for SCs/STs in promotions while accepting the ‘creamy layer’ concept. Recent judgements on SC/ST are seen to be more in line with the reality but withdrawal of reservation seems impossible in near future. Reservation for the weaker sections of the society, which includes SCs, STs and OBCs, has been provided in the Constitution and was supposed to have been initially for 10 years with periodic reviews. It was never intended to be a permanent feature.

The Mandal Commission formed in 1979 and headed by BP Mandal to determine the then socio-economic status of backward classes gathered dust till the then Prime Minister, VP Singh, in 1990, dusted it out in open. Tabling of the Mandal Commission report opened a Pandora ’s Box, leading to large-scale violence and, for the first time, even self-immolation. This shaped the course of Indian politics, drifting away from a rich versus poor socialist bedrock to caste versus caste archaic and divisive political cesspool. It has been three decades since. Have we been able to come out of it? The answer is an absolutely ‘no’.

In the wake of the Mandal Commission report, all the brouhaha over SCs/STs and backward classes has led broadly to two outcomes: (1) socially – the development of multiple fault lines along caste, pushing the Indian social fabric perilously closer to disintegration; it is only the invisible social balance and ingrained tolerance of the people at large that has helped them fight against this menace individually within, and (2) politically – caste-based, dynastic political parties have mushroomed and stirred political instability; so much so that irrespective of the overall social status of their caste, they wield the inexplicable power and live a life which contradicts the very cause of their political rhetoric.

The lucre associated with the politics of caste and reservation substantiates that instead of falsehood of discrimination or inequality, it paves the way to more benefits and secure future. So much so that even powerful socially forward castes like the Marathas, Patels, Jats and Ahoms are demanding OBC or SC/ST status. Ironically, none other than the Supreme Court has the guts to point out that the claim to get declared as a backward or ST is a paradox to sociological theories.

The caste system in India has its origins in ancient India, and underwent transformation in medieval, early-modern, and modern India. The caste system that exists today broadly consists of general, OBCs and SCs, who may be from the same community, while STs can be broadly defined as a community or jaati. No definite theories could convincingly conclude the origin and hierarchal importance of caste system, a paradigmatic example of Indian society. Again, sociological theories postulate that a community/jaati begins as a tribe and gradually transforms into a sociologically advanced group with all-round social development. The jaati system emerged because it offered a source of advantage in poverty, volatile political environment, and economic insecurity. Both the Rigveda and the Manusmriti lack details about the varna system, but include an extensive and schematic commentary which are “models rather than descriptions”. It would be worthwhile to mention that Indian history and mythology is replete with examples establishing that discriminations on caste lines were primarily non-existent, thus convincingly countering the present make-believe theories on caste. The fact is that in India, reverence to knowledge was paramount irrespective of caste.

But prolonged occupation brought social changes – as quoted by anthropologist Susan Bayly, “caste is not and never has been a fixed fact of Indian life”, and the caste system as we know it today, as a “ritualized scheme of social stratification”, developed in two stages during the post-Mughal period, in the 18th and early 19th century. The British, being fascinated by Indian social productivity, structure and balance, found that existing caste divisions could be exploited by creating rifts, along caste and religious lines, with a bit of tinkering. They framed laws, gave legality to castes, and little doubt, they were successful in generating a permanent fodder for future social disruptions.

Present Indian society regularly witnesses caste violence, but it is closely associated with class disparity instead of caste. The understanding has dawned that under present circumstances, caste factors in when class is low, and once class, determined by education, money, status and power, moves up, people, irrespective of caste, are held in high esteem. But the voices, if any, seeking legal recourse for economically weaker classes, irrespective of caste, have remained muted till date.

After 70-odd years of independence, as a society, though arguably, we have moved away from the rigidity of caste. And at a time when the country’s Prime Minister, Vice-President and President are OBCs and a Dalit, the discrimination and stigma associated with caste is but prominently not prevalent. A closer look will reveal that, barring a few states in North and South, caste divisions within the society is absent, and is a non-issue in eastern and north-eastern states.

Now when on contentious issues the government, with the help of the judiciary, is found to take overt or covert bold stands to do away with oppressive, archaic, sectarian laws, only on reservation do we find ourselves going further into a state of paranoia. Every government finds itself in a vortex of pragmatic caste politics and political one-upmanship, contrary to the moral obligations towards attaining a casteless/seamless society. This has seized policy decisions involving castes or reservation and is preferred pushing it to the domain of the judiciary to come up with an amicable solution, while the government keep its hands off to avoid political burns.

Therefore, discarding caste as a pan-Indian phenomenon, the Supreme Court, instead, must identify the affected states. Its recent interventions in matters pertaining to LGBTQ, adultery and Sabarimala, doing away with archaic laws to facilitate acceptance, were significant in ways through “forcing the society to accept through abolition of special laws while upholding fundamental rights’”. Caste discrimination is no longer rampant, and the society has evolved since the Raj, but continuity of caste-based reservation is continuously creating social fissures and divisions. Thus, with the court”s help, state-wise, a process of reformation can be initiated through reduction in reservations. This will (1) make other states to gradually follow suit, (2) discourage demand for reservation by newer groups, and (3) pave way for gradual fall in community-based political parties. This will begin the end of divisive politics and fragmentation of Indian society.

Manas Dasgupta

(The writer can be reached at dgmanas@gmail.com)