Introduction

“The Shudra must not acquire knowledge and it is a sin and a crime to give him education. - If the Shudra intentionally listens for committing to memory the Veda, then his ears should be filled with (molten) lead; if he utters the Veda, then his tongue should be cut off"- The Code of Manu (Manusmrithi - which is still one of the scriptural basis for contemporary Hindu civil law in India

Caste system is practised all over India and its implications have been discussed and debated widely, then and now. It has led to dividing the society into groups and thus sowed the seeds of discrimination and separation among the people. The Indian Government has been trying to improve the conditions of the underprivileged classes, by compensating for the opportunities they have been deprived of.

              Caste based reservation system is one of the most hotly debated issues in the contemporary Indian Society. The vociferous voices for and against the system is still heard from different corners of the Indian subcontinent. There have been questions of whether the criteria of reservation should be caste or class. The debate is still on and the Indian public is yet to reach a consensus on the same. The primary intention of the founding fathers of the Indian constitution on enshrining the notion of reservation was to allow the deprived classes to come at par with the forward classes .This, they thought, would ensure equality of opportunity and status in the Indian Society. The reservation is supposed to prolong as long as the backward classes are uplifted socially and stabilised economically.

               Despite the Government efforts, we are still not in a socio-economic system where all are treated equally and given the equal opportunities. The very fact that the scenario hasn’t changed after 67 years of Independence proves the necessity of continuing the system of reservation. However, the blog aims to study the background in which the reservation system evolved in the Indian Society and the present environment in which it functions. The blog also contains a detailed analysis of the arguments for and against caste-based reservation system.

Why do we need reservation? For Vs against - Lekshmy UK

Why do we need reservation?

Nobody can deny the fact that in past atrocities have been committed based on birth attributes. And to neutralize the atrocities of the past, we have to provide them a future. It is a moral commitment for us. Reservation is the best way to do so. But the popular opinion on this is not unanimous. However the reason why reservations remain contentious is not because it is divisive or because it can trigger social conflict but only because it is never taught or discussed in the right sense.  

It is seen as providing a social support rather than a social justice and as bringing divisions rather than bringing equality.

Discrimination varies from region to region. Different castes were discriminated in differently in different region of India.

“Today reservations are only a political tactic to gain votes. It is both a catalyst and a probable cause of a social conflict.” says the upper castes and the elites of the country. It is seen as a trick employed by the politicians to secure vote-banks instead of being seen as the greatest and the most successful social experiment in the history of mankind that has emancipated hundreds of millions of lower classes out of subjugation in less than hundred years, overturning domination and discrimination that lasted nearly two thousand years.

Most of the urban elite see reservations as anti-merit and anti-excellence system, while nobody bothers to point out that a society cannot strive for excellence without being inclusive. Elite lower castes don’t support reservations. They see it as a sign announcing ‘lack of competency”. Those availing reservations are seen inferior in certain way which can only be compensated by reservations. Supporting reservation is seen as admitting incapability.

The Merit Argument:

 The major point made by the opponents of caste based reservations is that it undermines the principle of merit with which our educational institutions currently work. They claim that it adversely affects the overall development of the society. The claim that the less merited from the reserved castes are preferred over the more merited from un-reserved categories is their main aver. However what the proponents of merit only argument fail to see is that the children under the reserved categories are deprived of the privileges of well educated parents, books, coaching centres, schools  which the unreserved children have with them as given. So this argument is a futile and acts  as a smokescreen for the perpetuation of inherited privileges.

If they are so very concerned about maintaining merit in all walks of Indian Economic and Social development, why didn’t we hear their voices rise when women were given 33% seats in Indian Parliament? Doesn’t merit apply there or is it that politics is to remain perpetually as a failed unconcerned about merit? The students who agitated when caste-based reservations were extended to the ‘premier’ educational institutions of India IITs and IIMs seemed so concerned about the future of India calling for ‘meritorious development’. In colleges of excellence like IITs OBCs who made it in open general category sees reservation as ‘demoralising’. Will the women feel the same when they sit on seats reserved for them in buses? If so then why don’t they stay here after their UG and PG and serve their mother country? Why do they boast of heavily paid jobs in Europe and America? What our country needs at the moment is not anti-reservation campaigns but improvement in technology in rural India, or management in rural areas or the public health care system.

“If the OBCs with less marks at the entry level are allowed to share the seats in these institutions, that in itself is not going to make a substantial difference in terms of creativity and productivity of these institutions. Given the creative interaction of the boys and girls coming from lower castes with nature and the means of production, having entered into such institutions, they might show exceptional talent in discovering new ways of doing things that could enhance the knowledge base of the country.”, says Kancha Iliah in his article Merit of reservations.

Only 2 institutes in Hyderabad produces 20% of IITans. This shows how ‘well’ the process of rote mugging has been taught and fostered. Innovation, creativity and change are seen with condemn.  Competence is about ‘sounding’ competent, not actually doing it. Remembering formulas learned years before and using technical terms now seem to showcase your competency. In that face supporting reservation is also seen as admitting your incompetency. This is the current fate of Indian IT Industry.

The SC/ST/OBC together constitutes more than 75% of India’s population. Still we are providing only  50% reservation for them. Anti-reservationists forget that they would have to live hating this 75%. What is worth living such a life? They talk about ‘merit’, but fail to see the kind of doctors the so-called ‘meritorious’ students are going to make hating more than half of their people. They go against students availing seats through reservation and not against those who do so through donations. Using economic power and political power remains unquestioned. How better are they compared to the lower caste students.

Anti-reservation protests- May- Jun 2006. Upper caste Hindus swept the streets and sang songs warning the lower castes to ‘be in your place’. What more explicit answers do the anti-reservationists need to be shown that there still exists caste based discrimination? The documentary ‘India untouched’ shows how the worst form exploitation untouchability is still practiced by upper caste with pride and lower castes undergo this without any questions.

We introduced reservations to give representation to the oppressed and socially weak classes. Its aim is to bring all people at par- economically, politically, socially and educationally. There should not be any community hegemony over another community which we can achieve only if there is upward mobility. Empower the community, let them gain respect, educate the kids and move the community up into forward class or declassified list. Talent is distributed equally – not based on caste or region. So given the opportunity, people from all castes will excel if they have commitment and dedication.  India should try to create a level field where people can compete with each other with any legacy to carry.

The question here is – aren’t they ready for standing on their own and competing with the so called forward classes or do they still need reservation to do it? Are there not enough educated people in those communities who can drive their community upward?

To profile people on their birth attributes - like caste, language, color of skin, region is not logical. People should be judged on what they have achieved like education, courtesy, vision, work, rather than what they are born with.

"Reservation is not going to stay here forever". It is a temporary solution to embolden India's social commitment. Once the goal is achieved, it has to go away. Reservation is help, not a fundamental right. Slowly, more and more communities should move into forward class and one day all castes should be equal.

The struggle of man is to make this imperfect world less imperfect. Reservations-based-on-caste is not a perfect system. But that does not mean we will discard it. And when it comes to OBC issue we do know that many flaws exist, but we will go ahead implement it and work towards improving it.

The alternative

According to Kancha Iliah the only alternative to caste based reservation is to make education (higher) a fundamental right and to let every child learn three subjects in English and three subjects in regional languages across the country with a uniformly structured syllabus from class one onwards. If such a school system is put in place and all the tutorial institutions are banned, over a period of twenty five years from now reservation can be done away with.

Government Policies and the Impact- Nikhil Alphonse

List of govt. policies regarding reservation

The best way to implement reservation in Indian society is through government policies and laws

The exact necessities for the reservation in favor of the members of the SC/ST/OBCs have been made in the Constitution of India. They are as follows:

 Article 15(4) and 16(4) of the Constitution enabled both the state and Central Governments to reserve seats in public services for the members of the SC and ST, thereby, enshrining impartiality of opportunity in matters of civic service.

Article 15(4) states that: “Nothing in this Article shall prevent the State from making any provision for the reservation of appointments or posts in favor of any backward class or citizens, which, in the opinion of the State, is not adequately represented in the services under the State.”

Article 16(4 A) states that: “Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any provisions for

reservation in the matter of promotion to any class or classes of posts in the services under the State in favor of SCs and STs which in the opinion of the State are not adequately represented under the State”(Constitutional  77th Amendment, - Act, 1995).

Article 16 (4 B) states that: “Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from considering any unfilled

Vacancies of a year which are reserved for being filled up in that year in accordance with any provision for reservation made under clause (4) or clause (4A) as a separate class of vacancies to be filled up in any

succeeding year or years and such class of vacancies shall not be considered together with the vacancies of the year in which they are being filled up for determining the ceiling of fifty percent reservation on total number of  vacancies of that year” (Constitutional 81st Amendment, - Act, 2000).

The Constitution prohibits discrimination (Article 15) of any citizen on grounds of religion, race, caste, etc.; untouchability (Article 17); and forced labor (Article 23). It provides for specific representation through reservation of seats for the SCs and the STs in the Parliament (Article 330) and in the State Legislative

Assemblies (Article 332), as well as, in Government and public sector jobs, in both the federal and state

Governments (Articles 16(4), 330(4) and 335). (Sukhadeo Thorat and Chittaranjan Senapati 2006)

Today, out of 543 seats in India's parliament, 84 (18.42%) are reserved for SC/Dalits and 47 (8.66%)for ST/Tribes. Allocation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Tribes in the Lok Sabha are made on the basis of proportion of Scheduled Castes and Tribes in the State concerned to that of the total population, vide provision contained in Article 330 of the Constitution of India read with Section 3 of the R. P. Act, 1950.

In 1982, the Constitution specified 15% and 7.5% of vacancies in public sector and government-aided educational institutes as a quota reserved for the SC and ST candidates respectively for a period of five years, after which the quota system would be reviewed.] This period was routinely extended by the succeeding governments.

. In 1990, Prime Minister V. P. Singh announced that 27% of government positions would be set aside for OBCs in addition to the 22.5% already set aside for the SCs and STs after studying Mandal Commission’s recommendations

Mandal Commission protests of 1990

Mandal commission protests of 1990 were against implementation of Mandal commission i.e., 27% reservation quota for OBC resulting in total 49.5% quota in government jobs and public universities.

These protests closed roads, highways, transportation services, government services, schools, and businesses of India. Most of the student protests were planned publicly, and in advance. Protest events gained widespread media attention through newspapers locally and nationally.

2006 Indian anti-reservation protests

The 2006 Indian anti-reservation protests were a series of protests that took place in India in opposing  the decision of the Union Government of India, led by the Indian National Congress-headed multiparty coalition United Progressive Alliance(UPA), to implement reservations for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in premier central and private institutes of higher education.

The government proposed to reserve 27% of seats in the premier educational institutions of India like All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Other Medical Colleges, Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and other central institutions of higher education for the OBCs in order to help them gain higher levels of representation in these institutions. This move led to massive protests, particularly from students and doctors belonging to the forward castes, who claimed that the government's proposal discarded meritocracy, was discriminatory, and was driven by vote-bank politics.

Popular opinion

Let's have a look at how the IITM students  perceives caste based reservation in India .

They were asked about their opinion on the same.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_bdITFFBNI&feature=youtu.be

The results of reservation

An examination the effectiveness of reservations by focusing on the experience of the scheduled castes (SCs).

Percentage of SC Employees in Central Government Services

Class	1959	1965	1974	1984	1995
I	1.18	1.64	3.2	6.92	10.12
II	2.38	2.82	4.6	10.36	12.67
III	6.95	8.88	10.3	13.98	16.15
IV	17.24	17.75	18.6	20.2	21.26

Sources: National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Seventh Report, April 1984 - March 1985, 5; Commissioner for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Sixteenth Report, 1966-1967, 15; National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Fourth Report, 1996-1997 and 1997-1998, Volume I,14.

Class I, the highest-paid level, includes members of the elite Indian Administrative Service (IAS), the Indian Foreign Service (IFS), the Indian Police Service (IPS) and connected Central Government services. In the next income bracket, Class II employees comprise officers of the state civil service cadre. , Class III employees comprise of primary school teachers, revenue inspectors, constables clerks etc. Class III employees comprise of    low-skill, low-qualification posts such as, peons, , drivers, and sweepers .

It is obvious from above stats that there has been a steady increase in  the  number of SC employees  in the course of time  The SC presence in Class I, for instance, has  increased by ten-fold, from 1.18 percent in 1959 to 10.12 percent in 1995. The Class II  figures  also show an upward trend from 2.38 percent in 1959 to 12.67 percent in 1995. Even the  lowest class, which initially had more SC employees in 1959 than any of the other classes  had in 1995, has had a slow rate of increase.

SC Enrolment in Undergraduate, Post-graduate, Technical and Professional   Courses

Year	Total Enrolment	SC Enrolment	% SC Enrolment
1978-1979	2,543,449	180,058	7.08
1995-1996	7,955,811	1,058,514	13.30

Source: National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Annual Report: 1996-97 &1997-98, 60.

The enrollment statistics for enrolment statistics for undergraduate, post-graduate, technical and professional courses has improved drastically. But  the SC are still under-represented, with only 13.30 percent enrolment This falls short of both the instructed reservation of 15 percent of seats as well as the proportion of SCs to the total population.

A state-wise breakdown (Table 12) shows that even in states like Kerala, where universal education has been, by and large, achieved, SCs still lag behind by 10 percent. However, compared to the disparity in 1961 between the total population and SCs in Kerala  (approximately 22 percent), the gap seems to be narrowing. In “Hindi belt” states like Uttar Pradesh, literacy rates among SCs did not clear 30 percent in 1991. At 19.49 percent, SC literacy in Bihar was even lower.

The fact that SCs are still under-represented in government services and educational institutions (in relation to the proportion they make up in the total population) undercuts the goals of the reservations policy.

History and background of caste-based reservation system - Deepta Sunil

Background and History of the Caste-based reservation system in India

Tracing the history of caste – based reservation system requires a proper and accurate understanding of the roots of Vedic times and the Varna system .In ancient times, one’s Varna was not determined by his birth but by the socio-economic duties performed by him, either voluntarily or assigned by the local administrator. Moreover in ancient time, the varna system was not elitist in nature. Rather all the castes were treated equally. The situation has changed drastically over time.


Not just that caste came to be determined by birth, but it became so prevalent in the Indian society sometime taking forms of discrimination and violence. This, by and large, affected the lives of the underprivileged depriving them of their basic rights solely because they were born to a particular caste.The caste based reservation system in India primarily aims to provide more social and educational opportunities for the underprivileged sections to facilitate the upliftment of their lifestyles. The reservation system particularly works to provide, the members of scheduled Castes and scheduled tribes, an equal political representation in the state legislatures, the Executive Organ of the union and the states, labour market, colleges and other public institutions.

The Indian Constitution provides the legal backing for reservation system and hence clearly specifies its provisions.

The Constitution of India states in article 16(4): "Nothing in [article 16] or in clause (2) of article 29 shall prevent the State from making any special provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. Article 46 of the Constitution states that "The State shall promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people, and, in particular, of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, and shall protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation.”

Despite the Supreme Court of India stating that the reservation couldn’t exceed 50% (as it would violate the principle of equality as guaranteed by the constitution); there exists state laws that exceed this limitation. For instance, Tamil Nadu has a caste-based reservation of 69% and Rajasthan 68%. Before going into the nuances of the reservation categories, let’s have a look at the history of reservation system in India.

The history could be traced back to August 1932, when the then Prime Minister of Britain, Ramsay Macdonald launched an award called ‘Communal Award’ where distinct representations were provided for Muslims, Sikhs and so on. Depressed classes were assigned a certain number of seats in certain constituencies where only voters belonging to that particular class could vote. This extended version of Divide and Rule policy marked the onset of reservation system in India. This, however, was widely criticized. Mahatma Gandhi was in strong opposition to this policy as he thought this would oppress the spirit of nationalism by dividing the Indian citizens. B.R.Ambedkar found the communal award as an important tool to uplift the position of the Dalit community and the other underprivileged classes in the Indian Society .After discussions and negotiations; Gandhiji and Ambedkar came to an agreement.   Poona pact was signed as an alternative to the provisions of ‘Communal Award’. According to the pact, separate electorates were provided for Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs with seats reserved for the Dalit in the former. 

There have been changes in this system after independence too. One of this happened in 1979, when under the Mandal commission a new sub-caste called other backward classes were classified. It estimated 52% as OBC population. In 1980, the commission submitted a report increasing the quota from 22 to 49.5%.

Reservations for the Other Backward Classes were introduced well before Independence except in the presidency areas and princely states south of vindhya.

Before independence:

The Hunter commission under William Wilson Hunter was appointed in 1882 by Lord Ripon. The primary motive of the commission was to review the educational system of the country since the despatch of 1854 and to evaluate and reorganise it with utmost importance to primary and secondary education.  Mahatma Jyotirao Phule made a demand of free and compulsory education to the Hunter commission along with proportionate representation in government jobs. He claimed that along with development in primary education, it is important to create a taste of knowledge among the backward classes. He felt that knowledge was becoming a monopoly of the upper classes. Upper classes always had an innate tendency to keep the knowledge with themselves ‘not to be soiled by the contact of the ignorant vulgar’, as he puts it. He thus demanded for the introduction of scholarships and annual prizes to the children from backward classes in order to create in them that passion for knowledge.

There was widespread demand for reservation in government jobs in the Princely State of Travancore considering the recruitment of non-natives into public service , thus taking away the opportunities of qualified and efficient native people. This happened in 1891.

1901 witnessed the reservation system being introduced in Maharashtra by Shahu Maharaj in the Princely State of Kolhapur.

In the following year (1902), reservations for non-Brahmin and backward classes were introduced by Chatrapati Sahuji Maharaj in the same princely state of Kolhapur. Reservation here, specifically meant free education to everyone and opening up of hostels in Kolhapur to facilitate easy access to education. According to Maharaj, it was a means to eradicate poverty and provide the underprivileged equal opportunities in the State administration. He was also particularly specific about availability of equal employment opportunities for all despite of their social classes. He propagated a class-free India and wiping away off untouchability. These proceedings in the Princely State of Kolhapur which led to the creation of 50% reservation in services for backward classes could be considered as the first official instance of provision of reservation for the depressed classes in India.

In 1908, reservations were opened up for castes and tribes with little share in the British Administration.

Later, in 1909 and 1919, one can find provisions of reservation made in the Minto-Morley reforms and Government of India Act respectively.

Madras Presidency general elections were held in November 1920. The communal distribution of the members who could stand for the elections were as follows:

Again in 1935, provisions were made for reservations in the Government of India Act. 

After Independence:

India became Independent in 1947 and B R Ambedkar was appointed the Chairman of drafting committee for the Indian Constitution. After days and nights of effort, the constitution of India came into effect on 26^th January 1950.

In 1951, Smt. Champakam Dorairanjan of SC 226 court pronounced that caste based reservations on the basis of communal award violates article 15(1) and is hence against law. The judgement was made invalid by the first constitutional amendment in Article 15 (4).

The Kalelkar commission was established in 1953 to evaluate and analyse the situation of socially backward classes.

The Mandal commission was set up in 1979 to identify the ‘socially and educationally backward classes’. The Indian parliamentarian B.P.Mandal headed the commission with the primary objective of redressing the questions of seat reservations and quotas. In 1980, a report was submitted by the commission asking for an increase in the reservation quotas due to the increase in number of castes in backward class list. Also, the report affirmed the practice of reservation providing the underprivileged classes special access to government jobs and admissions to public institutions.

1990 witnessed the Mandal commission report coming into effect in the Government Jobs .This was during the tenure of VP Singh.

In 1991, Narasimha Rao introduced a 10% reservation for the Poor among Forward Castes.

Supreme Court asked Tamil Nadu to get back to the 50% limit in 1994. 

The next year, Art 16 (4) came into effect by the 77^th Constitutional Amendment allowing reservations to promote the schedule Cates and schedule tribes.

On 2005 August 12, Supreme Court delivered a unanimous judgement by 7 judges declaring the following :

Amendment of article 15.-In article 15 of the Constitution, after clause (4), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:-

"(5) Nothing in this article or in sub-clause (g) of clause (1) of article 19 shall prevent the State from making any special provision, by law, for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes in so far as such special provisions relate to their admission to educational institutions including private educational institutions, whether aided or unaided by the State, other than the minority educational institutions referred to in clause (1) of article .

This was according to the Constitution 93^rd Amendment Act, 2005. The act has stirred the anger of youth all over the country.

 In 2007, the Central Government proposed an additional 27% reservation for the “other backward classes” in educational institutions. This has also led to public rage as they find it as a means of promoting only one section of society and pushing the other to oblivion.