“Reservation: a solution to problem or problem to

problem”

Submitted by: Sneha Singh

INTRODUCTION TO THE CONCEPT OF RESERVATION

Reservation in Indian law is a form of affirmative action whereby a percentage of seats

are reserved in the public sector units, union and state civil services, union and state
government departments and in all public and private educational institutions, except in
the religious/ linguistic minority educational institutions, for the socially and
educationally backward classes of citizens or the Scheduled Castes and Tribes who were
inadequately represented in these services and institutions. The reservation policy is
extended for the SC and STs in representing the Parliament of India & state legislative
assemblies.

CASTE BASED RESERVATION SCHEME: JUSTIFICATION

Caste is the predominant factor used for reservation in India, though reservation is also
offered based on other parameters like religion, state of domicile, etc. The central
government of India reserves 27% of government jobs and proposes to do similarly in
higher education1, Reservation in most states is capped at a maximum of 50%, but certain
Indian states like Rajasthan have proposed a 68 % reservation which ironically includes a
14% reservation for forward castes. Tamil Nadu, which has a 69% reservation policy
(using the 9th schedule of Indian Constitution) and most other states do not reserve seats
for forward castes.2

Thus this was the information about the scheme of reservation in India which is based on
caste demarcation. Now, the question arises whether the basis was correct or had some
lacunae. Considering the History of Caste System in India we trace that primitive Indian
society was based on Varna System under which there existed four castes being based on
the task which the individual could perform. It initially was flexible which turned into a
rigid one, now not letting any one from the family doing a particular task to turn towards
other trade or profession. This led to the fact that families belonging to a particular task
group which became the caste group and did the minimal or shunned works were left to
be undeveloped. Thus the people of the particular castes remained deprived. Thus, it was
very right to begin with Reservations based on caste basis.

PURPOSE

Reservations are intended to increase the social diversity in campuses and workplaces by
lowering the entry criteria for certain identifiable groups that are grossly under-
represented in proportion to their numbers in the general population. Caste is the most
used criteria to identify under-represented groups. However there are other identifiable
criteria for under-representation -- gender (women are under represented), state of
domicile (North Eastern States, as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are under-represented), rural
people, etc. -- as revealed by the Government of India sponsored National Family Health
and National Sample surveys.

The underlying theory is that the under-representation of the identifiable groups is a

legacy of the Indian caste system. After India gained independence, the Constitution of
1
de Zwart, The Logic of Affirmative Action: Caste, Class and Quotas in India, Acta Sociologica 2000; 43;
235
2
Sharma Arvind, ‘Reservation and Affirmative Action: Models of Social Integration in India and the
United States, Sage Publications, New Delhi, 2005
India listed some erstwhile groups as Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST).
The framers of the Constitution believed that, due to the caste system, SCs and the STs
were historically oppressed and denied respect and equal opportunity in Indian society
and were thus under-represented in nation-building activities. The Constitution laid down
15% and 7.5% of vacancies to government aided educational institutes and for jobs in the
government/public sector, as reserved quota for the SC and ST candidates respectively
for a period of five years, after which the situation was to be reviewed. This period was
routinely extended by the following governments and the Indian Parliament, and no
revisions were undertaken for the fear of losing votes (It is a well known fact that the so-
called backward communities are active in politics and their people vote; unfortunately,
the majority of highly educated Indians do not vote during the general elections.

Later, reservations were introduced for other sections as well. The Supreme Court ruling
that reservations cannot exceed 50% (which it judged would violate equal access
guaranteed by the Constitution) has put a cap on reservations. However, there are state
laws that exceed this 50% limit and these are under litigation in the Supreme Court. For
example, the caste-based reservation fraction stands at 69% and is applicable to about
87% of the population in the state of Tamil Nadu.

History of Reservations

India is divided into many endogamous groups, or castes and sub-castes, as a result of
centuries of practicing a form of social hierarchy called the caste system. Proponents of
reservation policy says that the traditional caste system, as it is practised, leads to severe
oppression and segregation of the lower castes and limited their access to various
freedoms, including education. Caste, according to ancient scriptures such as "Manu
Smriti", is "Varnasrama Dharma", which translates to "offices given according to colour".
The practice of caste in India followed this rule.

o 1882 - Hunter Commission appointed. Mahatma Jyotirao Phule made a

demand of free and compulsory education for all along with proportionate
reservation/representation in government jobs.
 o 1891-The demand for reservation of government jobs was made as early
as 1891 with an agitation in the princely State of Travancore against the recruitment
of non-natives into public service overlooking qualified native people.
o 1901-Reservations were introduced in Maharashtra in the Princely State of
Kolhapur by Shahu Maharaj. Reservations in the princely states of Baroda and
Mysore were already in force.
o 1908-Reservations were introduced in favour of a number of castes and
communities that had little share in the administration by the British.
o 1909- Provisions were made in the Government of India Act 1909
o 1919- Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms introduced.
o 1919 - Provisions were made in the Government of India Act 1919
o 1921-Madras Presidency introduces Communal G O in which reservation
of 44 per cent for non-Brahmins, 16 per cent for Brahmins, 16 per cent for Muslims,
16 per cent for Anglo-Indians/ Christians and eight per cent for Scheduled Castes.
o 1935-Indian national congress passes resolution called Poona Pact to
allocate separate electoral constituencies for depressed classes.
o 1935 - Provisions in Government of India Act 1935.
o 1942-B.R.Ambedkar established the All India Depressed Classes
federation to support the advancement of the scheduled castes. He also demanded
reservations for the Scheduled castes in government services and education.
o 1946- Cabinet Mission proposes proportionate representation with several
other recommendations.

o 1947-India obtained Independence. Dr. Ambedkar was appointed

chairman of the drafting committee for Indian Constitution. The Indian constitution
prohibits discrimination on the grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex and place of
birth3. While providing equality of opportunity for all citizens, the constitution
contains special clauses "for the advancement of any socially and educationally
backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes".
Separate constituencies allocated to Scheduled Castes and Tribes to ensure their

3
Constitution of India
 political representation for 10 years.(These were subsequently extended for every 10
years through constitutional amendments).

o 1947-1950- Debates of the Constituent Assembly.

o 26/01/1950-The Constitution of India came in force.
o 1953-Kalelkar Commission was established to assess the situation of the
socially and educationally backward class. The report was accepted as far as
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were concerned. The recommendations for
OBC's were rejected.
o 1956-Schedules amended as per Kaka Kalelkar report.
o 1976-Schedules amended.

o 1979-Mandal Commission was established to assess the situation of the

socially and educationally backward.4 The commission didn't have exact figures for a
sub-caste, known as the Other Backward Class(OBC), and used the 19305 census
data, further classifying 1,257 communities as backward, to estimate the OBC
population at 52%.

o 1980-the commission submitted a report, and recommended changes to the

existing quotas, increasing them from 22% to 49.5%. As of 2006 number of castes in
Backward class list went up to 2297 which is the increase of 60% from community
list prepared by Mandal commission.
o 1990-Mandal commission recommendations were implemented in
Government Jobs. Student Organisations launched nationwide agitations. Rajiv
Goswami Delhi university student attempted self-immolation. Many students
followed suit.
o 1991-Narasimha rao Government introduced 10% separate reservation for
Poor Among Forward Castes.

4
Bhattacharya, Amit. ""Who are the OBCs?"". Retrieved on 2006-04-19. Times of India, April 8, 2006.

5
Ramaiah, A (6 June, 1992). "Identifying Other Backward Classes" (PDF) 1203-1207. Economic and
Political Weekly. Retrieved on 2006-05-27.
 o 1992-Supreme court upheld reservations to Other backward classes in
Indira Sawhney Case.
o 1995-Parliament by 77th Constitutional amendment inserted Art 16(4) (A)
permitting reservation in promotions to the Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribes.
Later it was further amended to include consequential seniority by 85th amendment.
o 1998-Central Government conducted large nationwide survey for the first
time to estimate economical and educational status of various social groups.. The
National Sample Survey puts the figure at 32%. There is substantial debate over the
exact number of OBC's in India, with census data compromised by partisan politics. It
is generally estimated to be sizable, but lower than the figures quoted by either the
Mandal Commission or and national Sample Survey. Mandal commission has been
criticised of fabricating the data. National surveys indicated that status of OBC is
comparable to Forward castes in many areas.
o 2005-93rd Constitutional amendment brought for ensuring reservations to
other backward classes and Scheduled castes and Tribes in Private Educational
institutions
o 2006-The Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in M. Nagraj &
Ors Vs. Union of India & Ors upheld the constitutional validity of Art 16(4) (A),
16(4) (B) and proviso to Art 335.
o 2006-Reservations introduced for Other backward classes in Central
Government Educational Institutions. Total Reservation went up to 49.5%. Also See
Recent Development.
o 2007-Supreme Court give stayed on OBC reservation in Central
Government Educational Institutions.
o 2008—The Supreme Court of India on April 10 2008, upheld the
Government's move for initiating 27% OBC quotas in Government funded
institutions. The Court has categorically reiterated its prior stand that "Creamy
Layer" should be excluded from the ambit of reservation policy and private
institutions are also not to be included in. The verdict produced mixed reactions
from supporting and opposing quarters.

Several criteria to identify creamy layer has been recommended, which are as follows:
Those with family income above Rs 250,000 a year should be in creamy layer, and
excluded from the reservation quota. Also, children of doctors, engineers, chartered
accountants, actors, consultants, media professionals, writers, bureaucrats, defence
officers of colonel and equivalent rank or higher, high court and Supreme Court judges,
all central and state government Class A and B officials. The court has requested
Parliament to exclude MPs’ and MLAs’ children, too.

Thus we have seen the total and miscellaneous comprehensive standing of Reservations,
at all the levels. My study specifically talks about the approach of Judiciary towards
reservation in Jobs. The further study will deal with this concept in very specific manner.

Relaxations

In view of the fact that several of the top undergraduate and graduate institutions in India,
such as the IITs, the IIMs are among the most selective in the world, it is not surprising
that most reservation criteria are applied at the stage of entrance examinations for these
institutions. Some of the criteria are relaxed for reserved categories, while others are
completely eliminated.

BENEFITS DUE TO THE SCHEME OF RESERVATION

Reservation has always been a fiercely debated topic as the future of millions of students
hangs in the balance. It is an issue, which will make an even seemingly unbiased
individual question his own prejudices. The question of merit, caste and class keeps
recurring time and again inspite of the forward-looking vision of the constitution makers
who attempted to visualize an undivided and equal society.

Opposing reservations at the higher educational level is a justifiable issue. The student
community is not biased on grounds of caste or class; neither does it question the
fundamental rights encircling this issue.

But apart from all these issues what we need to consider is whether in actuality there has
been a success in attaining any of the goals which has been objected by the framers of
this scheme. At a time when India enters its 60th year of independence one is compelled
to question the social progress of this country. However, India's economic growth rate is
estimated at a whopping 6-8% per year, with economists still foreseeing the potential to
exceed 9-10%. The country has superseded other developing nations with poverty
depleting at a massive pace from more than half to less than a quarter since 1991. On the
other hand, it was reported in The Hindustan Times that students securing 90% and above
failed to get into colleges of their choice whereas two students who scored 6/100 in the
AIEEE have been selected for admission in the engineering course of BIT, Mesra. The
VC said that same 50 reserved seats are vacant and chances are that students who scored
1-2% maybe considered for admission. The implementation of 27% reservation no doubt
would instill a level of confidence in the backward class candidate; however much is
dependent upon his successfully completing his course. Another aspect that has been
overlooked is the state of literacy in this country. The comparisons with other countries
are stated as follows:

Illiteracy in India and some neighboring countries.Percentage of adult illiterate

population 20006

China 15.0
India 44.2
Indonesia 13.0
Myanmar 15.3
Sri-Lanka 8.4
Thailand 4.4

The state of literacy is also reflected in the dropout and enrolment percentage in the
primary and upper primary level of education.

According to Vinod Raina, a member of the Central Advisory Board on Education, 80

Million of India's 200 million children between six and 14 years of age are not in school

6
Statistical Yearbook, 1999 UNESCO and Census of India 2001-Provisional Population totals.
at all. Of the remaining 120 million, only 20 million are expected to reach the tenth year
of school, with the rest dropping out along the way. 7

COMPARITIVE STUDY:

The issue of reservation cannot be handled single handedly. We need to take a

cognizance of both the parties, the one in support and other against it. There are several
arguments provided both in support and in opposition to reservation. Some of the
arguments on either side are often disputed by the other, while others are agreed upon by
both sides, with a possible third solution proposed to accommodate both parties.

Arguments offered by supporters of reservation

1. Affirmative Action has helped many - if not everyone from under-privileged

and/or under-represented communities to grow and occupy top positions in the
world's leading industries. (See the Section on Tamil Nadu) Reservation in
education is not THE solution, it is just one of the many solutions. Reservations is
a means to increase representation of hitherto under-represented caste groups and
thereby improve diversity on campus.

Counter Point: Reservation only on the basis of caste tends to only perpetuate caste in
society rather than eliminate it as a factor of social consideration, as envisaged by the

7
http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/chaudhuri
Indian Constitution. It also weakens the notion of democratic citizenship by evaluating a
person not on the basis of his/her merits or achievements or personal characteristics, but
rather on the basis of accidents of birth.

2. Reservations in Tamil Nadu over 30 years have worked to such a level that OBCs
are able to outshine the Forward Castes (See Tamil Nadu Figure Below) and
hence the overall performance of the students have increased validating the
argument that reservation brings out the best from the weaker sections of the
society.

Counter Point:It is not surprising that OBC's outshining Forward castes in Tamil Nadu
where Forward castes are denied educational opportunities for more than 85 years
through exorbitant reservations. We should be proud if we bring equality through our
policies and should be ashamed if our policies result in reverse discrimination and
generates new set of depressed classes as happened in Tamil Nadu.

3. Casteism is the root cause of the suffering of more than half (according to the
disputed Mandal Commission) of India's population. To eliminate casteism we
need to help underprivileged people to do well in their education and share the
same social status as the upper caste people.

Counterpoint: The basic feature of the caste system is endogamy. To actually weaken the
caste system, the government should provide incentives like reservations to people who
marry outside their caste, thereby weakening the hold of the caste system in Indian
Society. The fact that advanced industry is located in the south does not imply that only
people gradudating from that region are employed in these companies. Instead, these
companies employ people from a pan-India level.

4. Reservation is everywhere in India - The head of a big firm is always the son of
the company's chair, irrespective of the fact that there is another meritious person.
The post of Temple priest in some temples is reserved only for a man from the
Brahmin Caste, even if there is another person who knows the mantras. There
exists practices of having separate temples with Gods like Ayyanar, Mariammal
etc, which are situated outside the village and the priests in these temples are not
 Brahmins. Janitor jobs are mostly done by people from the lowest caste, with very
few exceptions, which are rare enough to make headlines. There is no opposition
to these kind of reservations, since these are for the benefits of "upper castes".
The only opposition is the reservations in education, since those would benefit
people from the "lower castes" to climb the social ladder.

Counterpoint: A distinction has to be drawn between the actions of a family-owned

company or a religious foundation and the policies of a state founded on the principals of
Secularism and Democracy. Meritocracy does not mean father has to transfer his wealth
to best person ignoring his son and mother has to feed food to best child ignoring her own
child. Inheritance of family owned properties is accepted practice all over the
world;Denial of rights to section of population only based on birth without considering
other factors was being followed in countries like South Africa in Apartheid era and
being followed only in India and Malaysia currently.

Arguments offered by anti-reservationists

1. Caste Based Reservation only perpetuate the notion of caste in society, rather than
weakening it as a factor of social consideration, as envisaged by the constitution.
Reservation is a tool to meet narrow political ends.

Counter Point: We cannot close our eyes to the problem of caste. Caste is the
predominant factor of exclusion even in 21st century India. The people who voice against
the caste system neither do post solution to disband the caste system nor do they drop the
caste identity.

2. Allocating quotas is a form of discrimination which is contrary to the right to

equality.

Counter Point: The government has to formulate policies to make sure that those who've
been discriminated against for centuries also get an equal chance to move up the social
ladder. The Supreme Court has mandated that as long as reservation does not exceed 50%
of the total seats in an institution, it does not violate the constitutional right to equality.
 3. There is great confusion in the "pro-reservation camp". While they clamour for
33% reservation for women in parliament and state legislatures [and do not accept
caste quotas as part of women's quotas], they do not want special consideration
for women in quotas in higher education. This is implicit acceptance of the fact
that there are multiple factors of exclusion and discrimination at work in society.

Counter Point: The nature of discrimination against women is much different to that
against the lower social class. Women were not considered subhuman in the earlier
Indian society but the people of the lower caste were considered untouchables which is
still widespread in rural India.

4. The policy of reservation has never been subject to a widespread social or

political audit. Before extending reservation to more groups, the entire policy
needs to be properly examined, and its benefits over a span of nearly 60 years
have to be gauged.

Counter Point: Even with reservations for SCs/STs for 60 years, they have not been
represented in jobs and in higher education in proportion to their population. This is proof
that continued reservation is required to ameliorate their condition.

Counter Counter Point : This clearly proves that reservation in no way improves the
status of the lower classes and is hence not the correct policy of affirmative action to be
followed.

5. Providing quotas on the basis of an accident of birth and not on the basis of
competitive merit will be discriminatory to talented students, and weaken the
country's competitive edge.

Counter Point: Merit is an abstract notion and a social construct.

6. Poor people from "forward castes" do not have any social or economical
advantage over rich people from backward caste.

Counter Point: Reservation is a tool to improve representation. It is not a poverty

alleviation programme.
Counter Counter Point: Combination of factors like Wealth, Income, Occupation etc will
help to identify real needy people. Most often, only the economically sound people make
use of most of the seats reserved for "backward" castes, thus making the aim a total
failure.

7. There is fear that reservation once introduced will never be withdrawn even if
there is a proof for upliftment of Backward classes, due to political issues. For
example, in Tamil Nadu, forward castes were able to secure only 3% of total seats
(and 9% in Open Competition) in professional institutions at Undergraduate level
as against their population percentage of 13%. This is a clear case of reverse
discrimination.

Counter Point: With other states reluctant on implementing reservation Tamil Nadu holds
the only hope as a haven for lower caste. It would be justified to subdue Tamil Nadu if
rest of India opts for a fair reservation.

8. Many cite the Mandal Commission report while supporting the idea of
reservations. According to the Mandal commission, 52% of the Indians belong to
OBC category, whle according to National Sample Survey 1999-2000, this figure
is only 36% (32% excluding Muslim OBCs).

Counter Point: That still keeps the overall percentage of OBC and SC/ST above 50% of
the population.

INFERENCE FROM THE ABOVE DEBATE

Considering the arguments and counters given by the both parties I have come to the
conclusion that the supporters of the reservation have ‘massively’ failed to prove their
stand. Though they have very well established their point of affirmative action which is
indeed a very important for a nation for the betterment and upliftment of its citizens,
specifically for a nation like India which is a welfare state, but after that they trail away
from their path. The contempts raised by anti-reservationists have potency which defeat
almost all the counters presented by their counterparts. The conditions of pro-
reservationists worsen in the case of their chance of presenting the counters. Their answer
to the argument that poor people from "forward castes" do not have any social or
economical advantage over rich people from backward caste turns out to be -Reservation
…is not a poverty alleviation programme. This is a very bogus explanation.

Infact this is the question which shows the failure of the reservation scheme. Its aim
should have been the over all development of all the need and desirables, in which the
present scheme now fails entirely.

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS

Thus we have seen that though reservations are a solution to the various problems as
seen above but the faulty politics and bad reservation scheming is turning it into a
problem it self.

The thing is that though today there is a need of reservation but continuing with the
scheme which had been implemented decades ago is rather turning it into fatal with
undesirable consequences. To mention a few, the raging protests, suicide by a student,
strikes, etc.

Thus there is dire need to change this age–old reservation scheme. This scheme had been
enacted with a promise that it will be for only 20 years. But now no government,
whatever political orientation and influence tries to get away with this scheme without
any improvisation.

Actually the root of the problem lies not in the demarcation of the categories but in the
ever increasing rural and urban divide. In a rural village of India a general category
individual is suffering same as the OBC. So the solution lies in bridging the gap between
rural and urban India which can be done in concentrating on the rural setup and
providing them all the basic facilities. This way we can reduce the concentration of
power in few hands and provide sustenance to the weaker section i.e. the rural society.

According to my suggestion instead of providing reservation in seats or posts at higher

level, the needy children should be given a chance of better initial studies, so as to groom
himself so well that no reservation is needed. To support my belief I have the report of
According the Central Advisory Board on Education, which says that 80 Million of
India's 200 million children between six and 14 years of age are not in school at all. Of
the remaining 120 million, only 20 million are expected to reach the tenth year of
school, with the rest dropping out along the way.

DROP OUT RATE (2003-04)

Class Dropout%
(I-VIII) 52.32
(I-X) 62.69

(as high as 90% in Bihar)8

8
Annual Report 2004-05, Ministry of Human Resource Development.
Thus only about 10% of children in the eligible age group complete their high school.
The percentage is much lower among girls and rural children.

The inability of backward classes not being able to compete in gaining admission to
higher education is a consequence, not a cause of their backwardness. The cause of their
backwardness lies elsewhere and so by forcing them into higher education will not
magically remove their backwardness. Thus the above given formula needs to be
implemented.

Rather than being in form of absolute reservation to all belonging to a group there should
be reservation in form of scholarships to the eligible persons. Now the persons who
should get the reservations are those poor people (Poor people are those who doesn't have
enough money, but not those Castes that considered to be poor), but it's better to
completely eliminate the reservations and provide scholarships to poor students to get to
the higher education, then they will be able to compete for any jobs.

Thus let us say: No to reservation, no to anti-reservation, yes to sufficient opportunity

for all in all spheres of education and employment on the basis of ability, interest and
social necessity.