EWS Reservation – A Cursory Analysis

 

EWS Reservation – A Cursory Analysis

The issue of reservation to the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) of the society was recently in news and generated obvious debate and heat in the corridors of justice and power, news rooms, social outfits etc. It would happen to be, to my mind, a ‘game changer’ issue in the country; particularly with

regard to the socio-economic fabric of the society on one hand and socio-political polarization of the polity on the other in the years to come. My take on the issue is not that of an expert or academic but that of a layman as a concerned common citizen of India that is Bharat.

As we all know for centuries together, all most every avenue and opportunity was reserved for the socially and economically privileged upper crust of the society in the parlance of so called ‘Manuwadi” system. The outcastes (untouchables) and the Shudras (backward castes) were kept at the receiving end both by will and design by the privileged upper castes. Nobody raised any question of merit, poverty, equality and justice, Human considerations, we often tend to quote from our scriptures, were totally missing in dealing with the socially discarded and oppressed masses. The main stream of the society must have some introspection and realize the pain of this historic injustice amounting to dreadful cruelty meted out to the under-privileged. There is no need to go deep into the past and mention about the ‘Eklavyas’ and ‘Shambukas’ of ancient times. Let us come straight to the Bhakti Movement of the 15^th century – Kabir, Ravidass, Chokha Mela, Tuka Ram and the founder of Sikhism the great Guru Nanak came on the scene and stood for the human rights of the underprivileged, the first step to undo the injustice, meted out to the socially neglected and discriminated segments of the society on the basis of caste system ordained by the Chattur Varna of Hindus. The Sikh Gurus and Guru Granth Sahib, the holy scripture of the Sikhs, and the establishment of the Khalsa Panth by the 10^th Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Govind Singh followed by the social reforms of Narayana Guru in South India, Arya Samaj of Swami Daya Nand in North India, inter alia, played appreciable role in leveling the society one way or the other and definitely with some visible success. The situation came to head with the arrival of the likes of Joytiba Phule, Periyar E.V. Ramasamy, Bheem Rao Ambedkar among others in the contemporary times in the early 19^th century amidst liberal and democratic approaches of British rulers. Babasaheb Ambedkar underlined and flagged the social depression, oppression and systemic discrimination of depressed classes in the relevant fora including the Round Table Conferences held in London in early 1930s which resulted in the Ramsey MacDonald Communal Award of 1932 granting separate electorates to the depressed classes and recognized their distinct identity from the Hindus. Mahatma Gandhi, other Hindu leaders and the Congress Party

woke up and vehemently opposed the separate electorates to the depressed classes as demanded by Babasaheb Ambedkar and granted in the Communal Award. It was a turning point in the process of rights of the socially marginalized. Ambedkar was holding the fort representing dalits. Mahtma Gandhi resorted to his usual tactic of ‘Satyagraha’ and started his ‘fast unto death’ in Yerawada Jail in Pune (then Poona). Frankly, it was a sheer political blackmail as some political analysts see. The entire Hindu leadership led by Mahatma Gandhi and the Congress Party came together and appealed to Ambedkar to save the life of Mahatma Gandhi. Being a true nationalist to the core, Babasaheb, reluctantly, succumbed to the tremendous processor and wily designs of Mahatma Gandhi and signed some arrangements under the Poona Pact of 1932 to ensure due representation of dalits not only in the legislatures but also in services and educational institutions which later came to be called ‘Reservations’ first in 1935 and subsequently in the Constitution of India. I took the liberty of giving these details to call the bluff of the so called ‘main stream’ of the Hindu society or the ‘General Category’ who never get tired of shouting from the roof tops that dalits were given ‘Reservation’ by the act of ‘magnanimity’ and their own ‘volition’. Nobody gave Reservations to dalits on a platter. They got these concessions with the relentless struggle of Babasaheb Ambedkar and his associates.

With this background, let us come to the current issue of Reservation to the EWS. The concept of Reservation, as stipulated in the Constitution, recognizes socially and educationally marginalized communities and the facilities and additional weightage to them is given to ‘Empower’ them as an ‘affirmative action’ by the state with a view to built bridges and fill the vacuum for social cohesion and equitable order. Reservations are not given to fill the economic gap for poverty

amelioration. It is a fallacy being spread by the vested interests for electoral gains by polarizing the society – socially depressed Vs socially privileged, a dangerous and mischievous scheme of things. Who does not know that India is a poor country with millions of families living ‘Below Poverty Line (BPL)’? By government’s own admission, more than 80 crorer of our fellow citizens are being fed by the government under various schemes. In this scenario, where is the question of Reservations for the EWS? Moreover, is it not true that most of BPL families belong to Scheduled Castes/Tribes and Muslim communities? There is another lacuna which underlines the illogical approach of the government; the annual income for claiming scholarships by an SC student is two lakh but for the purposes of EWS, the income limit is 8 lakh. This fully justifies the thumb rule “Show me the face and I will show you the rule’. Kindly permit me to make a humble suggestion to empower the so called EWS in the ‘General Category’ that is the socially privileged. There should be at least 75% Reservation for the EWS in all the posts of ‘Safai Karamcharis’ including Gutter and Sewerage cleaners not only for the upper crusts of the caste ridden society but also the OBCs as caste bias and discrimination is also generally practiced by them too. It would be instrumental in bringing about the so called ‘spiritual experience’ to the higher echelons of the society.  Why the ‘spiritual experience’ be reserved only for the dalits?

All said and done, now let us revert to the ground reality. Reservations for the SCs and STs and also the OBCs are not a permanent provision and should not be so. There should be no hesitation in studying, assessing and retaining or modifying or abolishing these provisions with due, free and fair procedure, if required. But the upper castes and privileged or so called ‘General Category’ supported and encouraged by the vested political interests who are only interested in polarizing the society for electoral considerations are not interested in addressing the issue head-on. All political parties and social outfits like RSS and SGPC among others, willingly or otherwise, support reservations and keep on extending these temporary provisions even apart 75 years of independence. It seems there is no ‘political and social will’ to integrate the socially and educationally weaker sections with the main stream of the society to realize the lofty ideals of ‘Equality and Fraternity’ stipulated in the constitution. In this scenario, Reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs will remain as the society at large is still not ready to embrace the marginalized sections of the society because of historical compulsions of Manuwadi social system. It seems that Reservations for the EWS have been introduced by those vested interests who intend to ‘Eat the cake and have it too’. Reservations are not the answer to address poverty and safeguard security and integrity of our country. Nevertheless, I may say with great reluctance, if Executive, Legislature and Judiciary feel in their better consideration that Reservations are the only answer, why don’t

we fix the quota for all on the basis of their share in the demography? As of now, 59.5% are fixed – 27% for OBCs, 15% for SCs, 7.5% for STs and 10% foe EWS of General Category. What wrong has been done by the remaining 40.5%? They should also have their share in the pie. I leave it here as ‘Food for Thought’.

It is a matter of great concern and worry that our judicial system has further compounded the issue; it seems to a layman like me. The Supreme Court in a majority judgment of 3:2 in a 5 judge bench has upheld the Reservation for EWSs. It would further divide the polity and the society. The national parties like BJP and Congress have welcomed the court decision, bereft of political and constitutional morality, just to appease the Hindu main stream of the society. The regional parties like DMK, JDU, RJD among others, representing the lower strata of the society, have opposed the EWS Reservations. In an editorial, the Hindustan Times has rightly said, “With economic anxieties rising, reservations of various kinds are sure to emerge as political levers, straying even further from the lofty equality goals envisioned in the constitution.” Reservations for EWSs are totally unwarranted and unjustifiable and would tend to further fragment the society. Temporary Reservations for the SCs, STs and OBCs would automatically end when a ‘casteless’ society is in place. Nobody is interested in becoming a second class citizen any more by sticking to caste based reservations. But the governments, political parties and the society at large must act to empower the socially and educationally marginalized segments; the so called dalits. The sooner; the better.

I tend to fully agree with the observations of Hon’ble Judges Ravindra Bhat and U.U. Lalit who said in their dissenting notes, “This court has, for the first time in seven decades of the Republic, sanctioned avowedly exclusionary and discriminatory principle.”