INTRODUCTION
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the champion of social justice, concluding his speech to the Constituent Assembly, said, “We are going to enter a life of contradictions. In politics, we will have equality but in social and economic rights, we will have inequality.[1]” Reservation and Affirmative Action or Positive discrimination entails treating equals equally and unequally by reserving seats for marginalized or disadvantaged sections of society to empower them to have a stake in the system. Article 17[2] abolishes the practice of untouchability while Article 15 (4) and Article 16 (4), the State endeavours to provide for the welfare of its citizens. India when this provision was added was so caste-ridden that those practices had to be constitutionally abolished. Still, today due to the reservation system, many of those people have been given a compulsory place in society.
Caste becomes a problem since unlike the class of a person it lacks mobility and as a category still has extreme forms of discrimination. Reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes enshrined under Article 334 was intended to be a temporary provision to continue until society is in an equitable position. We still lack sufficient standard educational institutions, affordable healthcare for everyone, public schooling, vocational training, etc. It is the last safety net for people from backward sections facing socio-economic difficulties. Therefore, Reservation is needed to ensure equitable opportunities for the needy. Affirmative action is not a compensatory mechanism but a necessary tool to fight injustice against structural barriers and injustices in a hierarchical society.
ISSUES WITH CASTE-BASED RESERVATION SYSTEM IN INDIA
- Casteization of Politics: The Reservation system seeks to achieve the “Politicization of castes” meaning to bring the people living out of the sphere of society inside the society by including them in the State’s decision-making process. The right to vote and contest elections irrespective of caste empowers people from the marginalized sections of society to participate in the decision-making process and choose their leaders who will further work towards their development. The issue, however, in today’s India is that the reservation system is leading towards “Casteization of Politics” which means to solve every issue giving reservations to the aggrieved person based on his caste has become the only resort. Religion and caste are central to every Indian’s identity, naturally, they perpetrate Politics in India and are a major marker of voting behaviour and mass movements. This often leads to derogation from real issues for which leaders are to be held accountable but are easily able to escape due to such available contentions.
- Dominance of a subgroup within a Marginalized Section: This dominant group usually gets most of the benefits, leaving others with little to nothing. To understand this problem, the example of Madigas, a member of the Mala community in Telangana, could be used. The presence of dominance of one sub-group within a backward community results in discrimination and further stratification based on language, culture region, etc. It becomes harder to fight injustice and provide justice to all as the benefits of the reservation and other social welfare policies are prevented from benefitting all the persons who have faced systematic challenges throughout their lives in different aspects of life.
- No Exit Mechanism: Another issue associated with this caste-based reservation system is the absence of an exit system. This means that people considered underprivileged continue to receive benefits even after attaining a good socio-economic status in society. It prevents the needy from satisfying their basic needs and wastes state resources. There is no review mechanism tracking the impact of reservations given to people in Government jobs, educational institutions, etc. Due to this even after attaining a good socio-economic position in society, their children keep receiving the benefits which should be benefitting the needy ones. This also leads to wastage of state resources and escalates into a feeling of dissatisfaction among people.
- Caste is not the only marker of inequality: In 21st-century India today, caste is not the only marker of inequality. Some of the other markers include the Rural-Urban divide, Poverty, Gender, etc. All these complex inter-related issues are to be prevented through social justice, not just caste. Through continuous reservation policies by Governments, many backward communities have gained economic stability, but new markers for discrimination have increased due to the advent of Industrialization, technology, and Population growth which must be considered to devise new and better frameworks to provide maximum relief to people.
- Lack of basic Infrastructure and facilities: Though India has the world’s largest population to administer, it is still prominently seen that state resources are not being used for nation-building due to corruption, etc. More Hospitals, and Institutions of Education are needed for the reservation to work. In many villages and backward areas, there are no schools, healthcare units, or industries where such social welfare policies and reservations can benefit the people. Most cities also face this problem which leads to migration and creates an accumulation of population in Urban areas. The solution is the creation of infrastructure in backward areas to prevent migration.
NITI AAYOG AND MULTIDIMENSIONAL POVERTY INDEX
“The Global Multidimensional Poverty Index is a measure of multidimensional poverty covering 107 countries. It was developed in 2010 by the United Nations Development Programme and uses three dimensions and ten indicators for measuring it.”[3] NITI Aayog is tasked with the responsibility of monitoring it in India and the national MPI is calculated based on Health, education, and Standard of living – represented by twelve indicators not just income alone.[4] “The report of 2023 reflected that Nearly 13.5 crore people came out of multidimensional poverty in five years.
- Uttar Pradesh registered the largest decline in the number of poor, with 3.43 crore people escaping multidimensional poverty.
- India registered a steep decline in the number of multidimensionally poor from 24.85% to 14.96% between 2015-16 and 2019-21.
- Between 2015-16 and 2019-21, the MPI value has nearly halved from 0.117 to 0.066 and the intensity of poverty has reduced from 47% to 44%.
- India is on the path of achieving the SDG Target 1.2 (of reducing multidimensional poverty by at least half) much ahead of the stipulated timeline of 2030.”[5]
However, it must be noted the official data and the ground reality are two contrasting ends, In India citizens living in the most developed cities also face water shortages, sanitation issues, stable employment, quality education, etc. Hence, Reservation is needed to uplift the people at the bottom of the social hierarchy and this could be effectively done by replacing the current system with a multidimensional Reservation system which will consider many indicators and ensure just and fair promotion of opportunities just like the MPI.
REFORMS NEEDED TO BE IMPLEMENTED INTO THE NEW SYSTEM
- Last Beneficiary Principle for the privileged among the marginalized communities: In the context of jobs, the multigenerational disadvantages should be limited to a group who have previously benefitted from the system. It should be seen that the child of a person who has already availed the reservation of a certain post should not be given the same benefit. However, reservation for the same job but a post higher could be attained but their child. This will ensure that the benefit of the reservation policy is spread between many, not just one family.[6]
- A comprehensive evidence-based review report: New report reviewing the backwardness and caste inequalities must be made to understand the real situation which can help in better framing of policies. This could be done while doing the Census itself, by adding a socio-economic angle to it.
- A Multidimensional Reservation System: In this system, Merit is examined by considering a person’s background for example, if a girl from a village who has faced discrimination scores 57 out of 100 and a girl from a good socio-economic background scores 62 out of 100, the first girl can be given Deprivation points, which will increase her merit and make her eligible to compete with other students who have faced fewer obstacles in the past.[7]
- Incentives at a governmental level: Incentives to private companies can be given to recruit people from all backgrounds and provide training to them in exchange for tax relaxation. Similarly, seats could be kept for everyone, this will ensure the underprivileged will be brought into the sphere of power holding positions, and without intervention, and their representation will be ensured.[8]
- An equal opportunity report every year in Parliament: Parliament should be mandated to review how money given for social justice has been spent and how it has benefitted the targeted section of society every year. All committees related to social justice can be merged under the Equal Opportunity Commission, which would provide a detailed outlay of the aims, objectives, expenditures, and outcomes of social justice policies.[9]
CONCLUSION
It is to be understood that removing the Reservation system entirely is not the solution to the problem of discrimination in India. Affirmative Action is needed because every society works due to the efforts of all sections of the society. Reservation is about giving them recognition and inclusion, not just economic upliftment. Secondly, as already indicated by the Kaka Kalelkar Commission set up in 1953, Caste and Class in Indian society are entangled with each other. Hence, reservation based on class is not possible especially since any system needs a stable marker for implementation. In contrast, in India the parameters for measuring Economic status are volatile, differing from place to place. Therefore, a multidimensional Reservation system is the best alternative that will ensure inequality and the rich-poor divide is significantly reduced in India.
Author(s) Name: Devyani Verma (Bharati Vidyapeeth, New Law College, Pune)
References:
[1] Dr. Ambedkar’s last speech in the Constituent Assembly, page no. 12, Chhattisgarh State Judicial Academy,
< https://csja.gov.in/images/p1195/s_1_constitution_vision_of_Justice/Dr_Ambedkars%20speech.pdf>
Accessed 25 November 1949
[2] Constitution of India 1947, Article 17, 15(4) and 16(4), 334
[3] Multidimensional Poverty Index, 2024 https://www.pmfias.com/multidimensional-poverty-index/ accessed 29 September 2024
[4] Fazal Rahim, ‘Explained: What is multidimensional poverty and how does India fare?’, 2024, https://www.forbesindia.com/article/news/explained-what-is-multidimensional-poverty-and-how-does-india-fare/90891/1 accessed 16 January 2024
[5] Multidimensional Poverty Index, 2024 https://www.pmfias.com/multidimensional-poverty-index/ accessed 19 September 2024
[6] Utkarsh Anand, “Stop giving largesse to privileged few, says SC’’, Hindustan Times, 2024 < https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/stop-giving-largesse-to-privileged-few-says-sc-101732560919630.html> accessed 26 November 2024
[7] Dr. Sanjeev Kumar, “Unfinished Discourse of ‘Backwardness’ In Independent India”, Research Gate, 2023, < https://www.researchgate.net/publication/378542855_Unfinished_Discourse_Of_’Backwardness’_In_Independent_India> accessed August 2023
[8] Manmayi Sharma, “How can Companies Blend Social Welfare and Profit Making?” Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, 2020 < https://vidhilegalpolicy.in/blog/how-can-companies-blend-social-welfare-and-profit-making/>
Accessed 12 May 2020
[9] Ministry of Minority Affairs, “Equal Opportunity Commission: What, Why and How?” Report by Expert Group, 2008 < https://www.minorityaffairs.gov.in/WriteReadData/RTF1984/1658385481.pdf.> Accessed February 2008
