Author: Sandhya Jain
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: June 3, 2003
In the midst of a singularly lacklustre
election campaign, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot showed undue panic
by floating the balloon of reservations for 'economically needy' sections
of the forward castes. Brahmins dismissed the move as gimmickry since additional
reservations require Central legislation, and demanded that the State include
them among the Other Backward Classes so that they can immediately avail
of the benefits of Government employment.
This flattening of caste hierarchy
to a point where the OBC category has emerged as the prize varna to which
twice-born suvarna castes desperately seek admission, provides much food
for thought. It overturns all conventional dogmas about caste from the
time it came to public notice as a mobilising institution.
Caste has generally been understood
in terms of status and ritual ranking in society. While recruitments to
the Brahmin varna are recorded in the Rig Veda and even in the Mahabharat,
it is historically undeniable that the Kshatriya varna has been the favoured
destination of energetic groups. As late as the 18th century, the Holkars
graduated from cattle-herders to founders of the respected royal family
of Indore. Political power was a potent shortcut to elevation in the caste
hierarchy, with the ready cooperation of Brahmin priests. In the early
19th century, the tribal Raj-Gonds of Khairagarh were adjusted in the Nagbansi
lineage, which was recognised as Kshatriya in central India.
Another favoured ladder, as noted
by MN Srinivas, was 'Sanskritisation', whereby lower castes and tribes
adopted the purer lifestyles of the upper castes, and claimed a higher
social ranking. In the opening decades of the 20th century, the Santhals
of Bihar began to wear the sacred thread and claimed Kshatriya rank. The
Mahtos of Chhotanagpur were so determined to achieve higher status that
they got themselves de-scheduled as a tribe. The list is endless. In the
British period, some ambitious tribes even approached the Rajput Mahasabha
for recognition.
Of course, the desire for upper
caste status waned after 1950 when the constitution granted 22.5 per cent
reservations in Government jobs to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
Forward castes disapproved of reservations as they were denied a chunk
of sinecures that would have been theirs in an open competition; but they
nonetheless tolerated quotas as necessary to balance the historical resourcelessness
and disabilities of these groups.
However, public disaffection grew
when reservations were extended to prized seats in prestigious engineering
and medical colleges, and merit was compromised by sharply reducing the
qualifying marks for SC/ST candidates. This made a mockery of degrees and
did not empower the SC/ST candidates, as they often failed in the examinations
and had to drop out of the courses midway.
Public anger at the chicanery of
politicians came to a boil with the acceptance of the Mandal Commission
Report by the then Prime Minister VP Singh, which overnight doubled the
quantum of reserved posts. In the dozen years since, several leaders have
feebly mooted extension of reservations to the economically needy among
the forward castes. Mr Gehlot has now suggested a new Central initiative
to examine the issue, and the Bharatiya Janata Party has endorsed his proposal
to enhance job reservations.
Even as other political parties
struggle to articulate their stands, social scientists would do well to
examine the issue before we are pushed through another round of votebank
appeasement. It would be pertinent to remember that when the Mandal Commission
Report finally became public after a decade-long hibernation, all leading
sociologists and experts associated with the Commission dissociated themselves
from the report's conclusions and questioned its methodology. The scientific
classification of social groups is too sensitive a matter to be left to
politicians.
As reservations are intimately linked
to caste, a deeper understanding of the working of caste in its contemporary
setting is necessary before we aggravate social discontent by willy-nilly
expanding the reservation pie. I can see several potential sources of disaffection
on the horizon. For instance, given the fact that Government jobs are shrinking
and the privatisation of the public sector has gone too far to be reversed,
politicians may be tempted to spring a nasty surprise in the form of reservations
in the private sector.
In the intensely competitive global
environment, such a short-sighted move could do untold damage to commerce
and industry. The large multinationals would instantly quit the country
unless exempted from this Indian disease. The already unimpressive FDI
inflows would dip further, as managers fumble with caste certificates in
place of the good old marks or grades. Literally, every shopkeeper would
be open to harassment from "caste inspectors", and the confusion in the
economy would rival the legendary Tower of Babel. Obviously, the situation
would be too terrible to countenance.
In principle, reservations for the
economically needy seem unexceptionable, but they would be impossible to
implement in practice. Prima facie, every young man or woman eligible and
desirous of a job is economically needy, for the simple reason that even
affluent middle class families do not have the resources to indefinitely
support adult children who do not work.
In the case of the upper castes,
how is economic need to be defined? Would we simply identify certain gotras
among Brahmins and Rajputs as needy, or would we include all families that
fall outside the criteria identified by the Finance Ministry for filing
income tax returns (such as ownership of a telephone)? And who will certify
the candidate as genuine? A new mountain of corruption will open up in
the form of a "certificate industry," which will be utterly disproportionate
to the number of upper caste youth securing Government employment through
reservations. It is a completely unworthy exercise.
I feel that the time has also come
to reexamine the whole issue of social and educational backwardness as
a criterion for reservations. The very term "educational backwardness"
is an anachronism in a nation committed to the goal of universal education.
Since jobs are ultimately given to individuals and not to groups, and no
one can hold a job for which he/she is not qualified, the claim of educational
backwardness is odd, to say the least. Yet it is a claim bandied without
embarrassment by families and groups that willfully refrain from taking
the benefits of available educational opportunities. It is high time we
put paid to such perfidy.
The claim of 'social backwardness'
by the OBCs is equally phony, and several studies have ably documented
the political and economic power of leading castes in this category. In
the modern world, caste is no longer the organising principle of society-it
does not determine occupation; it does not restrict the choice of marriage
partner. At best, it bequeaths a surname, a sense of identity/community,
and an assured votebank during elections.
In the past few years, new States
have been carved with tribals constituting the majority population and
thus wielding political clout. Their historical problems of neglect and
exploitation can thus be expected to be taken care of over a period of
time. 'Social backwardness' then may be said to be confined to SC individuals
who are still denied entry to village temples. But they are seldom the
beneficiaries of reservations. As we deconstruct the commanding heights
of the Nehruvian economy, we would do well to dismantle this parasitic
legacy of the socialist raj.
