Author: Amulya Ganguli
Publication: Hindustan Times
Date: February 18, 2002
Introduction: The idea of reservations
in the private sector is a retrograde one
President K.R. Narayanan's preference
for reservations in the private sector recalls the regressive views of
the first head of State. Rajendra Prasad, too, had chosen to be a stumbling
block on the road to modernisation by opposing the Hindu Code Bill. Indeed,
Prasad had canvassed in favour of a wider scope for his powers beyond the
constitutional framework. For instance, he expressed the view that the
president had the "right to examine it (the Hindu Code Bill) on its merits
when it is passed by Parliament before giving assent to it..."
It was left to Nehru to dissuade
him by saying that the president "has no power or authority... to go against
the will of Parliament in regard to a bill that has been well considered
by it and passed... Otherwise, the question would arise as to whether Parliament
is the supreme legislative authority in this country or not".
In opposing the Hindu Code Bill
and, earlier, the Bihar Land Reforms Bill, Prasad ("When I am asked to
sign a document, I must satisfy myself and not sign blindly") was being
true to his conservative self. One has to be thankful to providence that
India had, in Nehru, a leader with a modern mind who could steer these
forward-looking legislations at a formative stage in the country's democracy.
Had lesser beings been at the helm, India's development as a modern society
might have been stifled at birth.
Fifty years down the road, India
is again standing at an important juncture of history. Any false step now
can have highly damaging consequences on its society and economy if only
because the world is moving at an even faster pace than in the Fifties.
A recourse to the quota system in the private sector would be one such
retrograde step.
The issue of reservations has to
be seen in a much broader context than what has been done till now. Instead
of blindly pursuing this course, a look at what has been - and has not
been - achieved via affirmative action is necessary. For a start, it has
to be remembered that reservations were prescribed in the Constitution
only for the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, and only for 10 years
- not in perpetuity.
Unfortunately, an issue of this
nature - because of its emotive content - becomes a self-serving one in
course of time. It has now become an act of faith for politicians to routinely
extend the time-limit for the quota system without considering its pros
and cons because of the belief that a contrary move would be politically
damaging for them.
Not only that, several other groups,
for which reservations were never considered by the founding fathers, are
now being provided with this privilege. And the reason why V.P. Singh's
heart suddenly started bleeding for the backward castes is also known:
he wanted to counter a political challenge from Devi Lal. Since factors
as dishonest as these guide affirmative action in India, it is strange
that Narayanan should have thought it fit to call for extending these facilities
to the private sector.
He is, of course, not the first
person to do so. Politicians have been quicker off the mark in the course
of their relentless efforts to retain their bases of support. The reason
for their compulsion is understandable. With the shrinking opportunities
in the public sector, they now want to invade the private sector in their
quest to make it dysfunctional as well.
What is evident in such a blinkered
approach is a refusal to recognise the impulses which guide the economy
at different periods of time. Just as in politics, the elitist concepts
of monarchy and feudalism have given way to egalitarian democracy, in the
economic sphere, too, ideas and practices have not remained static. Socialism,
at one time, promised to lead everyone to a land of milk and honey while
capitalism was thought to represent the den of iniquity.
So sure were the socialists of their
reading of history that they were convinced that the collapse of capitalism
was imminent. From Marx to Harkishen Singh Surjeet, this fateful event
has been predicted with grim satisfaction. What happened instead was just
the opposite. It was the workers' paradise which went the way of all flesh.
The statues of Lenin hit the dust while Deng Xiaoping proclaimed, "To be
rich is glorious", to trumpet his rejection of Marxism.
The essence of capitalism - the
winner of today - is free enterprise. It does not represent a perfect world,
but it has outrun socialism, which focuses on a regulated economy with
its many fetters on the conduct of business. One of these is the quota
system, with its stress on birth and not merit. Narayanan has referred
to provisions in the US which allow the government to monitor the presence
of the disadvantaged groups in various jobs.
But in the US, politicians do not
make a livelihood out of pandering to such lobbies - at least not to the
shameless extent that it is done in India. The recent efforts of Rajnath
Singh to mark out various sub-groups from among the backward castes for
special favours underline the ridiculous levels to which the quota system
has been reduced in India. Here the objective is not their upliftment,
but to get their votes. Had it been otherwise, much greater emphasis would
have been placed on providing the Dalits with better educational facilities
and not merely jobs.
Any intervention from a level as
high as the president's must have the stamp of originality and not be a
reiteration of tired formulas. Nothing demonstrates the harmful effects
of reservations than the sad fate of the Anglo-Indian community. Assured
of a job in the police and the railways under the British, its members
never cared for higher education, with the result that this energetic group
never lived up to its potential in independent India. Its only hero, Henry
Louis Vivian Derozio, belongs to the 19th century.
In contrast, look at the Parsis.
This minuscule group of immigrants from Persia has become one of the most
admired in India because they have risen to prominent positions by sheer
dint of merit. No one ever thought of reservations for them. But half a
century of reservations for the Dalits may have produced a creamy layer,
but a vast majority of them lives mired in poverty.
If affirmative action is to be taken,
it must be only in the field of education and for historically disadvantaged
groups like the Dalits. The others must fend for themselves and not be
fodder for politicians, some of whom even promise reservations for the
poor among Brahmins.
