India and the question of reservations

02 October, 2012

We often read the slogan 'say no to caste-based reservation' on social networking sites, on road-side flexi boards or at the settee of Anna Hazare's fast unto death. After the implementation of reservation system in government jobs, in education and in jobs - now, the unreserved categories have started fighting against the Caste Based Reservation System even though there are still many people to benefit from CBRS.

BEFORE SAYING no to this CBRS, one has to start questioning why CBRS was implemented in India. Many people start blaming Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the father of modern India, for implementing CBRS, when there is a discussion. Note the point that the CBRS is a secondary option for Ambedkar while the primary is to create separate electorates for the lower classes.

It was Mahatma Gandhi who set his life at risk not allowing the lower classes to get separate electorates in the Poona Pact. Ambedkar had firmly asked for the repeal of the reservation system after 15 years. He was aware of the fact that CBRS cannot give complete human dignity to the lower classes. But, the politicians had caught the nerve of the CBRS, and constructed a vote bank with the CBRS. It is caste that's still acting as the main pillar for grabbing the power for the politicians. Never in this country will this CBRS abolished until and unless there exists equal amenities - good education, high living standards, nutritious food and access to communication devices to all the people right from the child of the Prime Minister to the child of a daily wage labor - for each and every person who is an Indian citizen.

These equal amenities were not given to any of the BC/SC/ST prior to the formation of CBRS. In those days the upper castes strongly believed in the Brahmin-Kshatriya-Vaishya-Shudra hierarchical model of living, and did not let any of the Bahujans hold land (the chief source of living), and considered it highly offensive if any of the SHUDRAS and ATHI SHUDRAS (now SC/ST/OBC) touch the Vedic scripts. None of these Bahujans could make a decent mode of living if these CBRS would have not existed. In these 65 years of Independence how many of the total bahujans have gained and how many are yet to be the fruit bearers of CBRS is the point.

In India, 50 per cent of the total population are OBCs, the SCs and STs are about 20 per cent OCs are about 15 per cent and the rest are minorities. The entire resources in India have to be distributed proportionally population wise, to all the citizens. But, in whose hands are the big industries, factories, banks, firms, media houses, lands, software companies, private universities, colleges, huge private transport services, flight transports, the heavy industries, the mines of coal and gold are in? Undoubtedly, 90% of all the resources are in the clutches of the upper castes.

And these upper castes will not let the lower castes to march to heights. If it is an upper caste person who sets a college investing lump sum, then it is a lower caste who is trying to get a seat in it (almost 90 % of the engineering colleges in Andhra Pradesh are owned by the upper castes). And the rest of the upper castes are crying over the benefits of these socially disadvantaged people. There are some upper castes people who are economically backward, but to their social forwardness they are running faster in private sectors where the lower castes were still in elementary stage. Even if a Lower caste guy does not get a government job in spite of the reservation provided to him/her, then his/her life would be more miserable.

Taking Andhra Pradesh into consideration in reservation, There are 61 sub-castes in Scheduled Classes in which only the ‘malas’ and ‘maadigas’ grab the whole job opportunities. The remaining 59 sub-castes do not yet know the value of education. In Scheduled Tribes, there are about 64 sub-castes and only ‘Lambadas’ bag the whole opportunities given to them. Similar is in the case of Backward Classes. Out of 144 sub-castes in BC, only Yadavs, Mudirajs, Munnuru Kaapus, Gouds and Padmashalis run in the front line. Who cares for the rest? Definitely, there has to be a change in the reservation system considering the people who exactly have to be the beneficiary of the CBRS.

We cannot welcome the income-based reservation as income doesn’t stay constant. It has high fluctuation, which cannot be taken into consideration for reservation. As the reservations are only in the government sector, the upper caste political leaders always try to privatize everything as the entire holdings of private sector are in their hands.