Reservation in India is a form of affirmative action designed to improve the well being of perceived backward and underrepresented communities in India. These are laws wherein a certain percentage of total available slots in jobs and education are set aside for people from backward communities. Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC) are the primary beneficiaries of the reservation policies, while there are also reservation policies for women.
The reservation system has been a matter of contention ever since the British occupied India and remains a point of conflict. Many citizens who come from the upper classes find this policy of the government biased and oppose it, since they feel it takes away their rights to equality. But not everyone who comes from the underprivileged communities support the system because they say it makes them feel disadvantaged. Thus the reservation system is controversial.
A common form of discrimination in India is the practice of untouchability. Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) are the primary targets of this medieval practice, a practice, which is outlawed by the Constitution of India.[1][2] An untouchable person is considered, "impure, less than human."[3] STs are generally those who have been living in tribal areas, away from modern civilization and development.[4] While the definition of SCs and STs are primarily based on the history of oppression of the community, the definition of OBCs is more flexible and dynamic, and they are defined based upon the prevailing social status of their communities.[1]
The main objective of the Indian reservation system is to increase the social and educational status of the underprivileged communities, enabling them to take their rightful place in Indian society.[5] The reservation system exists to provide opportunities for the members of the SCs and STs so as to increase their representation in the legislature, the executive of the nation and states, the labor force, schools, colleges, and other social institutions.[4]
The Constitution of India states in article 15(4): "All citizens shall have equal opportunities of receiving education. Nothing herein contained shall preclude the State from providing special facilities for educationally backward sections of the population.” It also states that “The State shall promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of society (in particular, of the scheduled castes and aboriginal tribes), and shall protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation." The article further states that nothing in the Article 15(4) will prevent the nation from helping SCs and STs for their betterment.[6]
In 1982, the Constitution specified 15% and 7.5% of vacancies in public sector and government-aided educational institutes, are a quota reserved for the SC and ST candidates respectively for a period of five years, after which the quota system would be reviewed.[7] This period was routinely extended by the succeeding governments. The Supreme Court of India ruled that reservations cannot exceed 50% (which it judged would violate equal access guaranteed by the Constitution) and put a cap on reservations.[8] 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. In 1990, Prime Minister V.P. Singh announced that 27% of government positions would be set aside for OBC's in addition to the 22% already set aside for the SCs and STs.[9]
Enrolment in educational institutions and job placements are reserved based on a variety of criteria. The quota system sets aside a proportion of all possible positions for members of a specific group. Those not belonging to the designated communities can compete only for the remaining positions, while members of the designated communities can compete for all positions (reserved and open). For example, when 2 out of 10 clerical positions in railways are reserved for ex-servicemen, those who have served in the Army can compete both in the General Category as well as in the specific quota.
Seats are reserved for people under the following criteria:
In central government funded higher education institutions, 22.5%[10] of available seats are reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) students (15% for SCs, 7.5% for STs).[10] This reservation percentage has been raised to 49.5%,[10] by including an additional 27% reservation for OBCs. This ratio is followed even in Parliament and all elections where a few constituencies are earmarked for those from certain communities (which keeps rotating as per the Delimitation Commission).
The exact percentages differ from state to state:
Women get 33%[12] reservation in gram panchayat (village assembly - a form of local village government) and municipal elections. There is a long-term plan to extend this reservation to parliament and legislative assemblies. For instance, some law schools in India have a 30% reservation for females. Progressive political opinion in India is strongly in favor of providing preferential treatment to women in order to create a level playing field for all of its citizens.
The Women's reservation Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha on 9 March 2010 by a majority vote of 186 members in favor and 1 against. It will now be forwarded to the Lok Sabha, and if passed there, would be implemented.
The Tamil Nadu government has allotted 3.5% of seats each to Muslims and Christians, thereby altering the OBC reservation to 23% from 30% (since it excludes persons belonging to Other Backward Castes who are either Muslims or Christians).[13]
Andhra Pradesh's administration has introduced a law enabling 4% reservations for Muslims. (contested in court) Kerala Public Service Commission has a quota of 12% for Muslims. Religious minority status educational institutes also have 50% reservation for their particular religions. The Central government has listed a number of Muslim communities as backward Muslims, making them eligible for reservation.
With few exceptions, all jobs under state government are reserved to those who are domiciles under that government. In Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh, earlier 85% of seats were reserved for Chandigarh domiciles and now it is 50%. There are also some seat reserved for Jammu and Kashmir migrants in every Government aided educational institute.
Some reservations are also made for:
There is a University Grants Commission (UGC) set up that provides financial assistance to universities for the establishment of Special Cells for SC/STs. Their purpose is to help universities implement the reservation policy in the student admissions and staff recruitment processes at teaching and non teaching levels. They also help the SC/ST categories integrate with the university community and remove the difficulties which they may have experienced. SC/ST cells like these have been set up in 109 universities. The UCG provides financial assistance to universities and affiliated colleges for implementation of the Special Cells. It provides the universities with assistance worth "Rs.1, 00,000/- per annum for:
The UGC provides financial assistance only up to the end of the Xth Plan period ending on March 31st, 2007. The work undertaken by the SC/ST Cells is reviewed at the end of Xth plan. The Xth plan is proposed to ensure that there is an effective implementation of the reservation policy in admissions, recruitment, allotment of staff quarters, hostels, etc. Essentially, its goal is to to ensure that the SC/ST Cells are established in the universities.[4]
The following people are not entitled to reserved seats. Meaning that people cannot take advantage of the reservation system if they fall under the following categories:
| Categories for Rule of Exclusion | Rule of Exclusion Applies to the following: |
|---|---|
| Consitutional Posts | The sons and daughters of the President of India, the Vice-President of India, Judges of the Supreme Court, the High Courts Chairman, the members of Union Public Service Commission, members of the State Public Service Commission, Chief Election Commissioner Comptroller, Auditor-General of India or any person holding positions of a constitutional nature.[14] |
| Service Category: Those who are considered Group ‘A’/Class I officers of the All India Central and State Services (Direct Recruits) or those who are considered Group 'B'/ Class II officers of The Central and State Services (Direct Recruitment) or those who are employees in the Public Sector. | Those who have parent(s) that are Class I or Class II officers, or both parents are Class I or Class II officers but one of them dies or suffers permanent incapacitation. For more visit Pgs 7-8 of [1]. The criteria's used for sons and daughters of Group A and B are the same for the employees of the Public sector.[14] |
| Armed forces including Paramilitary Forces (Persons holding civil posts are not included). | The sons and daughters of parents either or both of whom is or are in the rank of colonel and above in the army or in equivalent posts in the Navy, the Air Force, and the Paramilitary Force. But that will hold true provided that-
|
| Professional class and those engaged in Trade and Industry | If a person has a high paying job such as physician, lawyer, chartered accountant, income tax consultant, financial or management consultant, dental surgeon, engineer, architect, computer specialist, film artist or other film professional, author, playwright, sports person, sports professional, media professional or any other vocations of like status. If the husband holds one of the above jobs and the wife doesn't then the husband's income will be taken into consideration and if the wife holds one of the above jobs then the wife's income will be taken into consideration.The income of the family as a whole will be taken into account because the whole point of the reservation system is to raise the social status of the people that belong to the SC's, ST's and OBC's and if a family's income is high already it is considered that it raises their social status as well.[14] |
| Property owners- Agricultural, Plantations (Coffee,tea,rubber,etc), Vacant land and/or buildings in urban areas | Sons and daughters of those who have irrigated land area which is equal to or more than 85% of the statutory ceiling area will be excluded from reservation. They would only be under reservation if the land is exclusively unirrigated. Those with vacant buildings can use them for residential, industrial or commercial purposes, hence they are not covered under reservations.[14] |
| Creamy layer | Son(s)/daughter(s) of those who earn 1 lakh Rs. or more annually for three consecutive years are excluded from reservation.[14] |
The creamy layer is only applicable in the case of Other Backward Castes and not applicable on other group like SC or ST. Though the efforts are also being made to do so. In some state the reservation within reservation has been made but creamy layer as such is applicable in OBCs only.
The Reservation system has a long history and has been debated before and after Indian Independence from the British in 1947.
Reservations in favor of Backward Classes (BCs) were introduced long before independence in a large area, comprising the Presidency areas and the Princely states south of the Vindhyas. In 1882, Hunter Commission was appointed. Mahatma Jyotirao Phule made a demand of free and compulsory education for everyone along with proportionate reservation in government jobs.[6] In 1891, there was a demand for reservation of government jobs with an agitation (in the princely State of Travancore) against the recruitment of non-natives into public service overlooking qualified native people.[6] In 1901,reservations were introduced in Maharashtra (in the Princely State of Kolhapur) by Shahu Maharaj.[6] Chatrapati Sahuji Maharaj, Maharaja of Kolhapur in Maharashtra introduced reservation in favour of non-Brahmin and backward classes as early as 1902. He provided free education to everyone and opened several hostels in Kolhapur to make it easier for everyone to receive the education. He also made sure everyone got suitable employment no matter what social class they belonged. He also appealed for a class-free India and the abolition of untouchability. The notification of 1902 created 50% reservation in services for backward classes/communities in the State of Kolhapur. This is the first official instance (Government Order) providing for reservation for depressed classes in India.[15]
In 1908, reservations were introduced in favour of a number of castes and communities that had little share in the administration by the British.[6] There were many other reforms in favor of and against reservations before the Indian Independence itself.
Even after the Indian Independence there were some major changes in favor of the STs, SCs and OBCs. One of the most important occurred in 1979 when the Mandal Commission was established to assess the situation of the socially and educationally backward classes.[16] The commission did not have exact figures for a sub-caste, known as the Other Backward Class(OBC), and used the 1930[17] census data, further classifying 1,257 communities as backward, to estimate the OBC population at 52%.[17] In 1980 the commission submitted a report, and recommended changes to the existing quotas, increasing them from 22% to 49.5%.[16]As of 2006[update] number of castes in Backward class list went up to 2297 which is the increase of 60% from community list prepared by Mandal commission. But it wasn't until the 1990's that the recommendations of the Mandala Commission were implemented in Government Jobs by Vishwanath Pratap Singh.[18] Many states wanted to change their reservation policies, and in 2010 the Supreme Court held that if the state wants to frame rules regarding reservation in promotions and consequential seniority, it has to provide quantifiable data that is there is backwardness, inadequacy of representation in public employment and overall administrative inefficiency. Unless such an exercise is undertaken by the state government, the rules in promotions and consequential seniority cannot be introduced.
The concept of untouchability was not practiced uniformly throughout the country; therefore the identification of oppressed classes was difficult to carry out. Allegedly, the practice of segregation and untouchability prevailed more in the southern parts of India as opposed to in Northern India. Furthermore, certain castes/ communities, considered "untouchable" in one province were not in other provinces.[19] The continuous efforts of some of the social reformers of the country like Rettamalai Srinivasa Paraiyar, Ayothidas Pandithar, Jyotiba Phule, Babasaheb Ambedkar, Chhatrapati Sahu ji Maharaj and others, worked to eradicate "casteism".
The public sector jobs are divided into 4 categories:Class I (or Group A), Class II (or Group B), Class III (or Group C) and Class IV (or Group D). The Class I employees take up 2.2% of the public sector workforce, the Class II employees take up 3.3% of the public sector workforce,the Class III employees take up 66.8% of the public sector workforce, and the Class IV employees take up 27.2% of the public sector workforce.[20] Below are the percentages of the SC employees in the Central government[20] :
| Class | 1959 | 1965 | 1974 | 1984 | 1995 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | 1.18 | 1.64 | 3.2 | 6.92 | 10.12 |
| II | 2.38 | 2.82 | 4.6 | 10.36 | 12.67 |
| III | 6.95 | 8.88 | 10.3 | 13.98 | 16.15 |
| IV | 17.24 (excludes sweepers) | 17.75 | 18.6 | 20.2 | 21.26 (excludes sweepers) |
The above table shows that over time as the new laws for the reservation systems were passed employment of SC's in Class I,II,III, and IV public sectors increased substantially.
A larger part of the Indian population does not fall under the categories of SCs, STs or OBCs. According to the 2001 census, the SCs and STs represent 24.90% of the population, out of which 16.20% are SCs and 8.10% are STs.[21] Since these castes are a minority and yet hold more jobs than the rest of the Indian population, there is a debate over the system. The following arguments have been put forth by Anti-Reservationists and Pro-Reservationists.
| Anti-Reservationists | Pro-Reservationists |
|---|---|
| Lower castes no longer accept that their lower economic status, lower position in the social hierarchy and lack of respect from members of higher castes are a “given” in their social existence.[9] | Men should remain in the same occupation and station of their life as their forefathers was a part of religious precepts and social customs in India.[9] |
| Opponents are unhappy because they believe that a moral injustice is being committed and equality of opportunity is eroded because of the reservation system. They are against the reservations because appointments are made on the basis of membership in a caste not considering that the individual is socially or economically handicapped. They also believe that reservations are used for political benefits rather than social benefits.[9] | The OBCs should get a greater share in administrative positions because political power resides in India’s administrative positions. They view political power as a way to get economic benefits, of which they have been deprived.[9] |
| They believe that reservations do not take into account merits and achievements and those who do not deserve hold certain positions get those positions because of reservations and this could lead to deterioration of public services.[9] | They believe they should get reservations because they have been victims of the Brahmin-dominated caste system and reservations as a part of the struggle against the oppression and for changing India’s social structure away from hierarchy.[9] |
| "India will remain trapped in the caste paradigm." The Reservation Policy is not helping out as much as it is harming.[22] | Supporters of quotas have argued that they have been successful in Southern state, where they have been used extensively.[22] |
|
|||||