BLOCK 4 CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES Unit 13 Reservation Unit 14 Small State Unit 15 Secularism Unit 16 Persistent Inequality UNIT 13 RESERVATION Structure 13.1 Objectives 13.2 Introduction 13.3 Need for Reservation 13.4 History of Reservation 13.5 Reservation in Free India 13.6 Debate of Equality vs. Merit 13.7 Committees and Commissions Related to Reservation 13.8 Important Articles of the Constitution Related to the Reservation System 13.9 Important Court Cases Related to Reservation 13.10 Let Us Sum Up 13.11 Questions to Check Your Progress Suggested Readings 13.1 OBJECTIVES This unit would enable you to understand: the history and importance of reservation policy in India; the merits and demerits of the reservation system; and the Indian Constitutional provisions for the reservation system. 13.2 INTRODUCTION This unit makes attempt to the learner understand trajectory and importance of reservation policy and merits and demerits of the reservation policy. Finally we will move on to provisions of reservation provided in the Constitution of India. India being a developing nation is currently facing many challenges and reservation is one of them. Reservation is a form of affirmative action. It sets aside a certain percentage of seats in government institutions for backward and under-represented communities. When India got its freedom from the British rule in 1947 and emerged as the largest democracy of the world, it had a herculean task on its hand i.e. taking democracy to the grassroots levels of society. The hard-won freedom would have lost its essence in the absence of equality and dignity assured to all the citizens of the nation. Our Constitution makers recognized quite well that given the diverse social and cultural backgrounds of its people, India needed a policy of positive discrimination to the section of our society which had long been neglected and disparaged so as to enable the downtrodden to improve their status and enter into the mainstream of national development 124 Contemporary Challenges and integration. Accordingly the Constitution provided for protective discrimination under various articles to accelerate the process of building an egalitarian social order. Given the widespread inequality in our social structure, it took many and long debates of our Constitution makers to conclude that the Indian scenario of equality of opportunity should be competition among equals, not unequals. It should treat the like alike and not the alike, like. They entrusted the state with a special responsibility to provide preferential treatment to the weaker sections by providing reservation to them. This was originally fixed for only the first 15 years of independence with the expectation that a single generation would be turned out in 15 years and would become capable of joining the others. But the reservation system has not only managed to survive but has strengthened itself over the years. Now and then India has witnessed various social movements demanding reservation. Given its social, economic and political impact, reservation has become a major issue of discussion, dissension and debate in policy circles in particular and people in general. 13.3 NEED FOR RESERVATION Reservation traces its origin to the age-old caste system which is the world’s oldest form of social stratification. Caste system originally started as an instrument of division of labour. It divided Hindus into hierarchical groups on the basis of their occupations (karmas). On the top were the Brahmins who were in charge of teaching and education, followed by Kshatriyas entrusted with the responsibility of protection and administration. Next in the hierarchy were Vaishyas who were meant to do business. At the lowest level of the hierarchy were the Shudras who were supposed to do menial jobs. Although originally caste depended upon a person’s work, soon it became hereditary. Each person was born into an unalterable social status. Members of higher castes had a greater social status than those of lower castes. Rooted in religion and based on division of labour, the caste system dictated the type of occupations one could pursue and the social interactions that one could have. With the passing of time it became more rigid and lower castes were prevented from aspiring to climb higher, therefore economic progress became restricted. The system bestowed many privileges to the upper castes while sanctioning repression of the lower castes by the privileged groups. Lower castes were denied basic rights like right to education and right to free movement. This minimised their opportunities for growth. This system remained virtually unchanged for centuries, trapping the people into a fixed social order from which it became impossible to escape. When India got independent it aimed at establishing an egalitarian society based on the principles of liberty, equality and fraternity. Our Constitution gave us the right to freedom but most importantly, to exercise this freedom in an equitable manner. Reservation reflected this principle of equality enshrined in our Constitution because the makers of our Constitution recognized it well that equality is always among equals and to treat unequals as equals is perpetuating inequality. So they emphasized on preferential treatment to certain sections of the society as a compensation for the injustice done to them for centuries. They adopted the policy of positive discrimination so that they could make a discrimination-free society where all have not only equal opportunity but also equal access to these free opportunities for a dignified life. Hence, keeping this in mind, the reservation system was born. Reservation 125 13.4 HISTORY OF RESERVATION Reservation in India has a history dating back to the pre-independence era. The idea of caste-based reservation was envisioned by William Hunter and Mahatma Jyotiba Phule in 1882. Phule demanded free and compulsory education for all along with proportionate reservation/ representation in government jobs. In the year 1902, Chhatrapati Sahuji Maharaj, Maharaja of Kohlapur in Maharashtra, issued a notification and created 50 per cent reservation in services for backward classes in his state. This notification is the first government order in India providing for reservation. Further in 1909 provisions for separate electorates were made in the Government of India Act, 1909 commonly known as the Morley Minto Reforms. Seats were reserved in legislative bodies on the basis of religion. Separate constituencies were marked for Muslims and only Muslim community members were given the right to elect their representative from that constituency. In 1919 communal representation was extended by the Government of India Act, 1919 and Sikhs, Europeans and Anglo-Indians were included. In 1921 Madras Presidency introduced the Communal Government Order which introduced reservation of seats for the following groups: Non-Brahmins (44 per cent) Brahmins (16 per cent) Muslims (16 per cent) Anglo-Indians/ Christians (16 per cent) Scheduled Castes (8 per cent). The reservation system got its present shape from the Macdonald Award. In August 1932, British Prime Minister Ramsay Macdonald introduced the Communal Award. In this, separate electorates were introduced not only for Muslims, Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo-Indians and Europeans but also for untouchables. Under this system the above mentioned communities were assigned a number of seats to be filled by election from special constituencies in which voters and contestants belonged to these categories only. For example if a constituency was reserved for a person of depressed class then only voters of depressed class of that constituency could vote for him. The implementation of this award would have meant that depressed classes were no more a part of Hinduism but had their separate identity like Muslims and Sikhs. So to save the unity of Hinduism, Mahatma Gandhi fasted unto death in opposition to this award. This award was supported by many minority leaders like B.R. Ambedkar. After lengthy negotiations, in September 1932, they reached a compromise known as Poona Pact. Under this agreement there was a single Hindu electorate with Scheduled Castes having seats reserved within it. It meant that from a Hindu constituency reserved for Scheduled Castes, only a Scheduled Castes candidate could contest the election while all the Hindu voters i.e Scheduled Castes and non-Scheduled Castes would vote in the election. Elections for other religion like Muslims and Sikhs remained separate. It was according to the spirit of this Pact that in 1935 Indian National Congress passed a resolution for allocating separate electorate constituencies for depressed classes. Provisions for reservation were further extended in the Government of India Act of 1935. The Anglo-Indians and Indo-Christians were also given separate electorates. Women were 126 Contemporary Challenges granted reservation in 41 seats in provincial legislatures as well as limited reservation in central legislature. The reservation of seats for depressed classes was also incorporated in this Act. It is important to note that this part of reservation (pre-independence era) was for electoral rights first and education/ job rights second. In this way a sufficient background was ready for reservation to be carried forward when India got Independence in August, 1947. 13.5 RESERVATION IN FREE INDIA The Constitution of India listed some of the erstwhile groups as Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) (their meaning