Why reservation is still necessary to uplift the depressed classes?

Reservation isn’t a fundamental right, stated SC. The SC refused to act on a petition filed by Tamil Nadu’s political parties who sought 50% OBC reservation in the all-India NEET seats surrendered by states. The Dalit communities around India were aggrieved by this statement. Several of them took Twitter to present their disagreement to this statement. #SaveReservations, and #??????_?????_??????_?? trended on twitter, now known as X, for hours.

By Radhika12

Why Reservation in India is important

This entire discussion pushes us to ask an important questions, are reservations necessary? I am sure, every one of us has an opinion on the same. There are several narratives about it as well. Let us try and understand what the court said, and if reservations are indeed necessary.

“We appreciate the concern of all political parties for the welfare of Backward Classes. But reservation is not a Fundamental Right,” Justice LN Rao said.

Caste based reservation in india

In that case, the petitioners were asked to approach Madras High Court. Former Justice Rao lauded the sentiment behind the move, which had parties of all shades from the state on the same page, as “unusual” for Tamil Nadu but refused to hear them. Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar had fought hard for the depressed classes and this statement shows disrespect of the work done by him.

A relevant part of the court’s decision is cited below:

“Now there is a cry within the reserved classes. By now, there are affluent and socially and economically advanced classes within Scheduled Classes and Scheduled Tribes. There is voice by deprived persons of social upliftment of some of the SCs and STs, but they still do not permit benefits to trickle down to the needy. Thus, there is a struggle within, as to worthiness for entitlement within reserved classes of SCs and STs and other backward classes.”

What basically reservation in India is?

Reservation in India is a system of affirmative action that provides representation for historically and currently disadvantaged groups in Indian society in education, employment, and politics. Enshrined in Articles 15 and 16 of the Indian Constitution, it allows the Indian government to set quotas to ensure any “socially and educationally backward classes of citizens” is properly represented in public life. It is intended to realize the promise of equality enshrined in the Constitution of India.

Reservation is primarily given to 3 groups: Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes abbreviated as SC, ST, and OBC respectively. These are groups that have faced social and economic discrimination in the past and/or the present and were severely underrepresented in public life. Originally reservation was only given to SCs and STs but was later extended to OBCs in 1987 after the implementation of the Mandal Commission report. There are income caps on EWS (Economically weaker sections) and OBCs (Other backward classes) and no income limits exist for members of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

Reservations are put in place to dissuade caste supremacists from blatantly neglecting the learning rights of the less privileged. For thousands of years, education was denied to the majority of the population of our country based on one’s birth. All the mighty kings who ruled the Indian subcontinent were bound by Manu Shashtra, the rulebook of the Hindu religion that proscribed education of the Shudras. Non-Brahmins were oppressed in many ways. Not only education but also positions of power and lucrative jobs were denied to them.

“Reservation” is a mechanism to give education and jobs to the oppressed based on their caste – yes, that very caste based on which they were earlier denied education and jobs.

Understanding Honour through the lens of Upper Caste Women

Why is it still important for the depressed classes?

We live in the 21st century India and the caste system feels like history for some of us. As per that assumptions, SCs/STs/OBCs should be affluent, and won’t be discriminated against? Somehow, we are aware that’s not true either. Another argument might be that this is a rural issue. In urban areas, people don’t discriminate. Class, not caste that is the social currency. Another argument, through Right to Education, schools are accessible for all. I can go on and list many more arguments are mentioned above. But, if we sit back and think, we realise that things are not in binaries. The reality is quite stark, and is happening beyond our purview.

Even today, in many villages, teashops serve tea to the oppressed castes (Dalits or Scheduled Castes) in disposable cups and the others in reusable glass tumblers. They have different benches for each caste group. Do those teashops ask for caste certificates? No. They identify someone’s caste based on his appearance.

The places where they are born and live are already divided based on caste. Their towns and villages are divided into “agraharas”, the exclusive settlements for Brahmins; “colonies” or “cherish”, the ghettos for the oppressed; and the rest of the area for the other caste Hindus. Even streets are identified with castes. Merely by looking at a pupil’s address, one can guess his or her caste. Do they ever allocate these reserved dwellings using caste certificates? No. These partitions are imposed upon us at birth.

In several incidents, if Dalits found burning Holika for the Holika Dahan ceremony, they are tonsured and paraded naked in the villages. Also in some parts of India, there have been allegations that Dalit grooms riding horses for wedding ceremonies have been beaten up and ostracised by upper caste people. In August 2015, upper-caste people burned houses and vehicles belonging to Dalit families and slaughtered their livestock in reaction to Dalits daring to hold a temple car procession at a village in Tamil Nadu. In August 2015, it was claimed that a Jat Khap Panchayat ordered the rape of two Dalit sisters because their brother eloped with a married Jat girl of the same villages.

Discrimination can also exist in access to healthcare and nutrition. A sample survey of Dalits, conducted over several months in Madhya Pradesh and funded by ActionAid in 2014, found that health field workers did not visit 65 percent of Dalit settlements. 47 percent of Dalits were not allowed entry into ration shops; and 64 percent were given fewer grains than non-Dalits. In Haryana state, 49 percent of Dalit children under five years were underweight and malnourished while 80 percent of those in the 6–59 months age group were anemic in 2015.

A sample survey in 2014, conducted by Dalit Adhikar Abhiyan and funded by ActionAid, found that among state schools in Madhya Pradesh, 88 percent discriminated against Dalit children. In 79 percent of the schools studied, Dalit children are forbidden from touching mid-day meals. They are required to sit separately at lunch in 35 percent of schools and are required to eat with specially marked plates in 28 percent.

There have been incidents and allegations of SC and ST teachers and professors being discriminated against and harassed by authorities, upper castes colleagues, and upper caste students in different education institutes of India. In some cases, such as in Gujarat, state governments have argued that, far from being discriminatory, their rejection when applying for jobs in education has been because there are no suitably qualified candidates from those classifications.

Way forward

Could additional inquiries be posed regarding whether the SCs and STs have adequate representation at the top levels of civil services, academia, judiciary – including both the Supreme Court and high courts – police, policy-making, and other public services? Does having jobs in lower tiers signify economic prosperity and the eradication of social backwardness? Is Indian society entirely free of caste-based discrimination? Has the domination of upper-castes in public institutions completely disappeared?

The fact that a Dalit judge has been appointed to the Supreme Court after nearly ten years, and his notable absence from the five-judge panel deciding on the reservation, reflects the unfortunate state of wealth disparity and the lack of representation in public institutions.

The article is written by Radhika Bansal. She is a Journalism student at Amity University.

Courtesy : Ground Report

Note: This news piece was originally published in groundreport.com and used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes exclusively for Human Right