The creeping corrosion of a nation

By R. N. Bhaskar

May 25, 2006 (This article appeared in the DNA); pdf version

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When political decisions are taken as a knee jerk reaction – either to prevent demolition of illegal structures, or the attempted regularization of squatters on pavements and public land – the harshest sufferings are borne by the law-abiding and the meek. That is no way for a society to transform itself.

The Mandal Commission report was accepted 15 years ago, though it was compiled 25 years ago, and was based on data that is at least 75 years old.

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On Sunday last week (21 May, 2006), the Indian Medical Association (IMA) and the Youth for Equality (YFE) made yet another fervent attempt to explain to the government why the present policy of reservations desperately needed a second look.

<> Unlike the past, where there has been much passion and little light on this subject, this time there was an appeal to reason. One of the spokespersons for the YFE, Shaun Noronha, put forth several arguments that are worth further dissemination. And here is my attempt. <>

* YFE, right at the outset, admits that the Indian society is indeed plagued with great social inequality; that there are people who do get less opportunities than those who are privileged. And that there is no denying that affirmative action is needed to benefit the underprivileged and to bring them out of poverty. One solution at a point of time was thought to be reservations. But a backward glance across the past 50 years shows how this method has failed miserably. <>

* The track record speaks for itself: In 1953, the Kaka Kalelkar commission found 2,399 castes and communities to be backward. This was increased to 3,743 in 1989 by the Mandal Commission. The number was further increased to 4418 in 2005. Even while one government body after another has kept on increasing number of castes and communities designated as backward, not a single community has been taken off the list even after 50 years! This is both shameful and worrying. Evidently, the criteria for identifying backward classes have an inherent tendency for being inflated every few years. And if communities cannot be improved even after 50 years, it could mean that the policy needs to be carefully examined, and even overhauled. And if there is no mechanism to prevent benefits from continuing to go to those who have already benefited from such a policy in the past, and are now privileged, the policy itself becomes flawed, and is in urgent need for redress. <>

* The policy of reservations by the founding fathers of the Indian Constitution had believed 15 years to be sufficient for reservations to do their work. The extension of this period was meant as an enabling provision, not a disabling one. Today, reserving posts for teachers, judges, the defence forces and doctors (to name a few) without the yardstick of competence threatens to cripple this country. This is more so at a time when every contract by an outsourcing company in India has been wrested from the global markets on the twin issues of price and competence. Ignoring either, or both, planks would lead to economic suicide. <>

* There is an urgent need for a judicial committee to go into the definition of underprivileged itself. Moreover, it needs to be understood that the present attempt to increase the ambit of reservations has its roots in the Mandal commissions report that is today at least 25 years old. Moreover, it is based on data that is over 75 years old! This is because the government of India has never stratified the census on the basis of caste lines since the 1931 census, except in the case of SCs and STs. So, the Mandal commission resorted to the 1931 statistics for OBCs to base its recommendations, which are being applied in 2006. Absurd! With a globalised economy, with the winds of competition blowing more fiercely than ever before, and with the desperate need to upgrade all of India’s manpower irrespective of caste or creed, a more positive approach towards transforming society is desperately needed. <>

In conclusion, all that one can say is that when political decisions are taken as a knee jerk reaction – either to prevent demolition of illegal structures, or the attempted regularization of squatters on pavements and public land – the harshest sufferings are borne by the law-abiding and the meek. That is no way for a society to transform itself. That is not the kind of place India deserves in the sun.