27 Quotas and Social Justice

Anindita Chakravarthy

1. Introduction:

This module seeks to analyse reservation in various arenas, namely education, politics and employment. In doing so, it throws light on how reservation, in the form of affirmative actions are designed, resulting in caste, gender reservations, caste reservations, tribal reservations, reservations based on disability and those of minorities. The module situates the debate on reservation within the larger issues on justice and equality linking with the institutionalization of justice in the form of affirmative action and also attempts to bring out the complexities that exist and emanate in designing and defining quotas.

2. Overview:

Reservations have been a controversial issue in the Indian polity. Much of the controversy is inherent in the subject due to its complexity. The intensity of the controversy has varied with differences in social locations and contexts. Different kinds of reservations have evoked equally different kinds of responses from the society in general. Reservations for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes(STs) did not evoke much opposition at the time of independence or even after as has happened in the case of so-called Other Backward Classes (OBCs), technically known as Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBCs). Indian masses and intelligentsia are sharply divided on the issue of reservations. This brings us to the fact that the argument on reservation has split the population into two major groups, namely, the reservationists and the anti- reservationists. While the former perceive the phenomenon as a matter of right and consider it a higher pedestal than merit. Merit, according to them, is a cultural construct and is an element of hegemonic culture. Anti-reservationists, on the other hand, view this issue as antithetical to the ideal of ‘equality of opportunity’ as enshrined in the Indian Constitution1.

3. The term social justice:

The term social justice was more embraced by liberals and progressives than by socialists proper, partially as a result of the denunciation by Marx and Engels2. According to them, speaking of justice implied placing oneself on the terrain of bourgeoisie ideology. However, with the advent of the socialist movements as serious contenders for political power was pivotal to the development of ideas of social justice, since it was precisely a socialist challenge that forced liberals to look more critically to the issues of landownership, private ownership of industry, inherited wealth and other such features of capitalism, and to investigate various socialist and communist schemes of industrial organization advocated by those further to the left3. What emerges typically is a discriminating defense of the market economy in which some existing property rights are criticized and the others vindicated, and the state is charged with enacting those reformist policies that will lead to a just distribution of social resources.

Justice, a central moral standard in social life, is generally held to have prominent role in social theory and social action. A wide variety of principles are available to regulate social and economic

1 Hooda, Sagar Preet Contesting Reservations. Rawat Publications, 2001, 16

2 Miller, David. Principles of social justice Harvard University Press, 1999, 3 3 Ibid

inequalities, and therefore the concept of social justice is the subject of great dispute. Different political ideologies yield different principles of justice4. Among the variety of concepts and theories advanced in this way, those of desert, merit, entitlement, equality of outcome, equality of opportunity, need, and functional inequality would seem to be most relevant to sociologists.

4. Reservations:

Protective discrimination or reservations have three components5, namely, political reservations, educational reservations and employment reservations.

4.1.  Political Reservations:

Articles 330 and 332 provide for reservations of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the Lok Sabha and the Legislative Assemblies of the States. Initially, the reservations were for ten years. One of the purposes of providing such political reservations was to enable the SC/ST members to voice the grievances of the oppressed sections in general and SC/ST in particular; they were also expected to bring pressure on the government with a view to rectify the injustice done to their communities. However, they are faced with a ‘cruel dilemma’6. If they ventilate the grievances of their communities, they are branded as Harijan or Adivasi leaders, and if they are alleged to be adopting an elitist attitude and ignoring their brethren. However, according to Shah, very little effort has been made by them to develop ‘political consciousnesses’, consciousness to fight for their rights and against injustice in their followers. Be it noted that what is true of the SC/ST members is also true is also true of most of the non-SC/ST elected representatives as well.

4.2.   Educational Reservations:

As Karuna Chanana points out women, Muslims, Scheduled Castes and tribes are disadvantaged in higher education. She bases her conclusion on the basis of their enrollment in higher education although several other dimensions could have been selected for illustrating their educational backwardness7. Each of these categories is not monolithic and educational disadvantages vary within as well as across these categories. This situation exists in spite of the Constitutional provisions in favor of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes as well as for Muslims. The official documents such as the reports of the various committees and commissions appointed by the Government of India since independence have reflected a consistent view about education as the major instrument of social mobility and advancement for the weaker sections. According to Chanana, the National Policy on Education had underscored the twin dimensions of education, namely, removal of disparities and equalization of educational opportunities. Strategies are outlined separately for women, the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and minorities. However, their specific needs and suggested strategies are neither integrated nor is an overall comprehensive framework provided for the education of all the disadvantaged groups.

4.3. Employment Reservations:

In particular, the Indian Constitution stipulates that in each state the share of public sector jobs reserved for scheduled castes (SCs) and scheduled tribes (STs), the two principal historically

4 Ibid

5 Shah, Vimal P., and Binod C. Agrawal. Reservation: Policy, Programmes, and Issues. Jaipur: Rawat Publications, 1986.

6 Ibid.

7 Chanana, Karuna. “Accessing higher education: the dilemma of schooling women, minorities, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in contemporary India.” Higher Education 26.1 (1993): 69-92.

disadvantaged groups in India be equal to their share of the total population in the most recently tabulated census of population. This policy rule generates plausibly exogenous variation in share of jobs reserved (or employment quota), permitting the identification of the causal effect of employment quota on labor market outcomes8.

The history of employment quota policy for disadvantaged minorities in public sector jobs dates back to 1947, when India attained Independence. Specifically, Articles 16(4), 320(4) and 335 of the Indian Constitution provides safeguards for SCs and STs in services and posts under the state with a view to ensuring their adequate representation in the public sector jobs. The percentage of quota or reservation in services/posts under the state government varies from one state to another and is fixed on the basis of percentage of SC and ST population in the respective state9.

When identifiable groups are equally endowed ex ante, affirmative action can bring about a situation in which employers (correctly) perceive the groups to be un- equally productive, ex post10. So whether the effect of employment quota for minorities should make minorities worse off or not is not known. There are two possible ways in which the policy of employment quota for minorities could improve minorities’ labor market outcomes. The most direct effect is that some minorities will be employed in these reserved jobs11. But even some minorities who do not end up getting a reserved job may nonetheless experience benefits.

5. Quotas:

The pertinent issue that emanates from the above discussion is the issue of reservation or presence of often termed as affirmative action (AA) and the interesting responses that emerge in the form of debates. Broadly speaking, AA consists of a set of anti -discrimination measures intended to provide access to preferred positions in a society for members of groups that would otherwise be excluded or under-represented12. Many of the contributions to the recent debate do take up political dimensions of the situation by highlighting instances of discrimination based upon caste prejudices13. This is a valuable contribution which demonstrates the reality of discrimination and marginalization with the aid of statistical data and recourse to establish criteria of backwardness and deprivation, such as, region, gender, caste, etc. in combination. But this analysis is usually aborted and re-directed towards policy by defining its goal as that of ‘demonstrating’ that something is the case. At this juncture, one may question about whom to demonstrate. Since the state has already declared that the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) reservations will be introduced in educational institutions, it would appear that only the opponents of reservation are in need of being so convinced. Thus, in a peculiar twist, policy recommendations seem to be addressed, not to the state, which seems to be already responding these realities, but to the phantom majority whom the self-

8 Prakash, Nishith. “The impact of employment quotas on the economic lives of disadvantaged minorities in india.” (2009).

9 Annual Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Commissioners Report. Also reported in Bill No. XLII of 2000 called The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Bill as introduced in the Rajya Sabha.

10 Coate, Stephen, and Glenn C. Loury. “Will affirmative-action policies eliminate negative stereotypes?.” The American Economic Review (1993): 1220-1240.

11 Ibid

12 Deshpande, Ashwini Affirmative Action in India. Oxford University Press, 2013, 6.

13 Tharu, Susie, et al. “Reservations and the Return to Politics.” Economic and Political Weekly (2007): 39-45.

styled ‘Youth for Equality’14 and others claim to represent. Or, to put it differently, even though there is ample evidence that the state’s character has undergone significant change since the foundation of the republic, it is still addressed in its early, essentially managerial form: the one that is meant when people speak of the ‘idea of India’. Invariably, we note that the evidence of discrimination is usually channeled into an argument about deprivation: social divisions with structural consequences are translated into the language of a common measure of access to public goods, thus in a way disorienting the political analysis. The shift from discrimination which points to social divisions with structural consequences to deprivation- a lack that may be compensated- is symptomatic of the policy approach, which does not examine social divisions or inquire into the consequences for an understanding of the Indian society/democracy. It attempts to find a solution to a crisis. The fundamental question is: how do the state and its advisers perceive the crisis generated by the struggle for reservations, and, by contrast, how might it be perceived from the point of view of a democracy to come?15 Reservations are designed and imposed by the government on a number of grounds, namely, class, gender, religion, tribal belonging and physical disability. In the following sections, we shall deal with each of these categories separately, and asses and analyze the emerging realities.

5.1. Reservations for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes: A foundational necessity:

Reservations for SC/STs were a foundational necessity for the republic to come into being. In civil society discourse, this was usually and still is, considered a full and final settlement of historical debt, after which caste would seize to be a political issue. Caste violence and other evidence of continuing caste discrimination and oppression thus came not to be seen as a social rather than a political problem. On the other hand, the state maintained a predominantly non-interventionist stance in relation to communal relations reminiscent of the colonial stance. It managed to sustain for sometime the illusion of a modern polity moving steadily towards early decades and their intelligentsia that they were authorized by a social contract, was not shared by a majority of the population. The country witnessed the return of the unresolved political questions of separate electorates, or rather the unresolved political questions of which the separate electorates demand was a symptom, seemed to have found a new way of re-entering the political agenda. Caste groups began to mobilize with renewed energy though not exclusively within the framework of parliamentary democratic system. This politics named caste as a principal axis for the distribution of status, wealth and knowledge. Movements like the Dalit Panthers and the Dalit Sangharsh Samithi of the 1970s, and later many political parties called for a sharing of power which they regard as having been on a caste basis. The idea of a ‘bahujan samaj’ is new, and posits those who have been excluded or expropriated as the actual majority. The success of these newly emerging movements and political parties showed that the assumption of unified and homogenous policy was ill-founded. There was no singular political subject. The task of forging such a new community remains a task for the future.

Ethnic quotas are often expected to induce distribution of material benefits to members of disadvantaged groups. Yet, the presence of an ethnic quota does not imply that political mobilization takes place along ethnic lines: Cross-cutting affiliations within multi-ethnic party organizations may lessen the tendency of politicians to target benefits to particular ethnic groups. In

14Tharu, Susie, M. Madhava Prasad, Rekha Pappu, and K. Satyanarayana. “Reservations and the Return to Politics.” Economic and Political Weekly(2007): 39-45.

15Ibid.

this article, we evaluate the impact of quotas for the presidencies of village councils in India, a subject of considerable recent research. Drawing on fine-grained information from surveys of voters, council members, presidents, and bureaucrats and using a natural experiment to isolate the effects of quotas in the states of Karnataka, Rajasthan, and Bihar, we find weak distributive effects of quotas for marginalized castes and tribes, but suggestive evidence of the importance of partisanship. We then use survey experiments to compare the influence of party and caste on voting preferences and expectations of benefit receipt. Our results suggest that especially when politicians have dynamic political incentives to allocate benefits along party lines, cross-cutting partisan ties can blunt the distributive impact of ethnic quotas16.

There are tribes in central India mainly in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and in the North -eastern hill states. While tribes in these regions are characterised by geographical isolation and low economic status, they are also distinct in several ways. The tribes in central India are impoverished and are the most backward. They have also suffered from the intrusion of the Indian mainstream and of the pan-Indian model of the state, society, economy and culture. The new forces released during the colonial period affected them adversely and led to the denial of their traditional rights to land, forests and its produce and other natural resources. They were also unable to benefit from the impact of new economic and political processes. The tribes in the North Eastern Hill states are distinctly different since they are not as poor or oppressed as those in central India. They have had more education due to a longer exposure to missionary activity. In these regions, the tribals have been a majority. Therefore, the oppression of untouchability did not affect them17. These societies were not characterised by extremely hierarchical social divisions of Hinduism and therefore were not as unequal as the ‘mainstream’18 Indian society. However, they share marginalisation with other tribals. The tribals of both the categories are included in the category of Scheduled Tribes.

5.2. Gender and Reservation

Sexuality is an issue that has created social divides. Sexual minorities have been oppressed in our society on the ground of them being deviant. Their existence has been listed as unnatural. Therefore, the issues related to the rights of sexual minorities also do not find place in the top agendas of the governments and of human rights movements. The issue is often lost in the complexities of problems that a society faces.

5.2.1.  Reservations vis-à-vis Transgenders

A Public Interest Litigation that alleged that the transgenders have been deprived of many of their fundamental rights which others enjoy as citizens. The PIL has also sought reservation for transgenders in educational institutions and job opportunities in public and private sectors. ‘The transgenders are deprived of social and cultural participation, are shunned by family and society, have only restricted access to education, health services and public spaces and have restricted rights as citizens such as right to marry, to contest elections, to vote, employment and livelihood opportunities and various human rights such as voting, obtaining passport, driving licence, ration card, identity card etc’. ‘The transgenders are treated as legal non-entity in violation of Articles 14, 15, 16 and 21 of the Constitution,’19

16Dunning, Thad, and Janhavi Nilekani. “Ethnic quotas and political mobilization: caste, parties, and distribution in Indian village councils.” American Political Science Review 107.01 (2013): 35-56.

17Ibid.

18Ibid.

The Supreme Court finally acknowledged a Third Gender that is neither male nor female in a landmark judgment that asks the government to make sure that transgenders get job quotas and facilities including a voter card, passport and driving licence. ‘Recognition of transgenders as a third gender is not a social or medical issue but a human rights issue,’20 the Supreme Court’s two-judge bench said in its ruling. ‘Transgenders are also citizens of India. The spirit of the constitution is to provide equal opportunity to every citizen to grow and attain their potential, irrespective of caste, religion or gender.’21

The Centre was asked to treat transgenders as ‘socially and economically backward’, to enable them to get reservations in jobs and education. ‘Transgenders are also citizens of India’22. It is the right of every human being to choose their gender. The spirit of the Constitution is to provide equal opportunity to every citizen to grow and attain their potential, irrespective of caste, religion or gender,’ the court said. By recognizing them as third gender, this court is not only upholding the rule of law but also advancing justice to the class that has so far been deprived of its legitimate natural and constitutional rights, the court, however, clarified its verdict pertained only to eunuchs and not other sections of the society such as gays, lesbians and bisexuals, who are also considered under the umbrella term, transgender.

So far, the lack of legal recognition has important consequences in getting government ration shop card, passport, and bank accounts. The Tamil Nadu government, in particular has taken up positive measures for changing transgender people’s birth name and sex in official gazette and official identity documents either after realizing their gender identity or undergoing sex transition surgeries. Notably, Tamil Nadu state government through its Transgender Welfare Board constituted a district level screening committee in each district to certify and provide an identity card which specifies name, address, etc. This effort is touted to be the first in India and even in the whole Asia-pacific region. After its inception in 2008, the board is projected to address a variety of concerns of transgender people that includes education, income generation and other social security measures. Transsexuals were granted their right to vote only in 1994. Also, the election commission now recognizes the gender under the ‘others’ category only after a transgender was elected as a Mayor in Katni, Madhya Pradesh which had to be nullified due to gender issues. There are various NGOs which have been working for the upliftment of transgenders. Some of them provide professional training to financially empower them. But these small steps will become effective only when people have more open-minded approach towards them. Till the time they are looked down upon and the ‘third sex’ does not come at par with the remaining two sexes, transgenders will continue to live a life full of ignorance, negligence and hushed voices around them wherever they go.

5.2.2.  Reservation vis-à-vis Women:

19Ibid.

20http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-27031180

21http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/transgender-issues/news/

22Ibid.

Despite significant advances in education and political participation, women remain underrepresented in leadership positions in politics and business across the globe. In many countries, policy-makers have responded by introducing gender quotas in politics and increasingly, many have expressed an interest in requiring gender quotas for corporate boards. Adoption of quotas by countries is likely correlated with attitudes about women within a country. However, the randomized allocation of political quotas in India and the unanticipated introduction of board quotas in Norway have allowed researchers to provide causal analysis and this review focuses on evidence from these two settings. The Indian evidence demonstrates that quotas increase female leadership and influences policy outcomes. In addition, rather than create a backlash against women, quotas can reduce gender discrimination in the long-term. The board quota evidence is more mixed. While female entry on boards is correlated with changing management practices, this change appears to adversely influence short-run profits. Whether this is partly driven by negative perceptions of female management choices remains an open question. Returning to the broader cross-country context, we find evidence in many different settings that political and corporate entities often act strategically to circumvent the intended impact of quotas. Consistent with this, we report suggestive evidence that the design of the quota and selection systems matter for increasing female leadership. Equitable representation of women in the highest decision making body is an urgently required measure to empower the women politically. No nation could stand proud if it discriminates against any of its citizens, and no society could claim to be part of the modern civilized world unless it treated its women at par with men23.

In keeping with the point to provide gender equality in the political arena, the idea of reserving seats for women was mooted by former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in the late 1980s24. In 1988, the National Perspective Plan for Women suggested that a 30% quota for women be introduced at all levels of elective bodies. Women’s groups insisted that reservation be restricted to the panchayat level to encourage grass-roots participation in politics. The consensus around this demand resulted in the adoption of the 73rd and 74th amendments to the Indian Constitution in 1993. In 1955, the question of quotas was raised again, but this time the focus was women’s representation in Parliament. In 1966, the United Front Government led by Deva Gowda introduced the reservation in Parliament. However, it was rejected in an uproar with, some male politicians arguing that women should stay at home where they really belonged. The media had described the debate as the ‘battle of the sexes’25. Attempts to introduce the reservation bill in the Parliament reserving 33% of seats for women have been protested in the chamber of the lower house of the Parliament in the year 1998. Male opponents of the bill, who said it, would benefit only middle class city women, continually disrupted proceedings, forcing several adjournments.

What is happening to Indian society in the contemporary times is a criss-crossing of movements of various oppressed sections. Often these movements pull in different and even opposite directions, thus defeating the process of democratization in the short run. It is a challenging task both for the leaders of these movements and social analysts to unravel the myriad oppressions that characterize Indian society and to draw out the major strand which will strengthen and contribute to the overall process of democratization of society. The levers of change have to be sought in an overall democratization of society. And this is even more so in a plural society like India where the political system has to ensure a modicum of equality between all groups if history’s longest oppression is to be seriously tackled. This would imply that the struggle for gender equality and justice will have to be woven into the struggle for emancipation of each of the oppressed groups and communities26.

23Saxena, Alka, Role of Women in Reservation Politics. Altar Publishing House, 2011.

24Ibid

25Ibid

5.3. Disability, Quotas, and Exclusion

5.3.1.  Meaning of disability in the Indian context:

The comprehension and meaning of disability in India needs to be negotiated as it is embedded in multiple cultural discourses, with subtle nuances. On the one hand is the assumption that disability implies a ‘lack’ or ‘flaw’, leading to significantly diminished capability27. Another theme in the narrative depicts disabled people as suffering the wrath of God, being punished for misdeeds that either they or their families have committed. As one of the mothers was told by a family member, ‘All this has happened because I gave you a ‘‘Shrap’’ (curse). If you had been nice to me, I wouldn’t have felt the need to curse you’. For the mother, the consequential guilt of responsibility for a child’s disability is not difficult to conceptualise. Disability thus is perceived as retribution for the past. Yet another strand conceives of disability as eternal childhood, where survival is contingent upon constant care and protection. Here, the emphasis is on images of dependency, thereby reinforcing the charity/pity model. This list, though not exhaustive, illustrates the underpinnings of a negative cultural identity28.

Owing to a lack of systemic historical research, contemporary constructions portray disabled people as possessing a negative identity, perceived from a predominantly medical angle. That Western medical explanations are predominant is evident from the latest Indian human development report, which states that, ‘physical disabilities are genetic, biological and even birth defects and future research must focus on the causes of such disabilities’29– thus, reiterating that medical intervention is regarded as a prerequisite, without any contemplation of the social perspective. Resistance to such notions has come from disabled people, who have struggled for their place in society. The outcome of their efforts saw the first Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act 1995. Though notified some years ago, the Act still awaits proper implementation. Notwithstanding this legislation, the state has continued to be apathetic. The physical environment is largely inaccessible and information is restricted (there is one sign-language news bulletin per week for people with hearing impairments). The range of reading materials and technological advancements is extremely limited.

A proper census is vital for policy planning and fund allocation and is more accurate than sample surveys. The reality on the ground is that Census 2001 has revealed that over 21 million people in India are suffering from one or the other kind of disability30 and remain outside the ambit of mainstream Indian society. Their lives remain mired in vicious patterns of helpless cynicism, political inertia and poor social innovations that offer no long-term solution. Inequalities and deficiencies in life experiences tend to affect individuals’ expectations and desires, since it is difficult to desire what one cannot imagine as a possibility. The state continues to rely on the voluntary sector for the provision of basic services for disabled people, although this sector can barely cover even a minuscule proportion of those in need. However, the most dangerous and widespread threat to disabled people comes from a less dramatic source of poverty.

26Raman, V., 1999. “Women’s Reservation and Democratisation: An Alternative Perspective”. Economic and Political Weekly (Bombay), 11 December 1999, pp. 3494–3495.

27Priestley, Mark. Disability: A life course approach. Cambridge: Polity, 2003.

28Ibid.

29Shariff, A. (1999) India: Human Development Report: A Profile of Indian States in the 1990s, Oxford University Press.

30General, Registrar. “Census Commissioner, India.” Census of India 2000 (2001).

5.4. Minorities and reservation:

While the Scheduled Castes and Tribes can be identified on the basis of lists of castes and tribes prepared by the government, the term ‘minority’ has not been given a clear definition in the Constitution. ‘Minority’ is generally used to designate a category of people distinguished on the basis of ethnic, racial, linguistic, political, and religious identity. Numerical minority is an additional, not exclusive dimension. However, in their reports, the High Power Panel (1985) and the Minorities Commission (1986) refer mainly to religious minorities31. Here too, the term minority is used to refer to religious minorities.

Minorities in India enjoy the guarantees of equality before the law under Article 14 of the Indian Constitution. Article 15 prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth while Article 16 assures equality of opportunity in matters of public employment. Article 29 guarantees the rights of minorities to conserve their language, script and culture while Article 30 gives the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice whether based on religion or language. These include provision of adequate facilities for instruction in the mother tongue at the primary stage. However, it directs that these institutions will not impart religious instruction if they receive state funds32.

While there is considerable heterogeneity among the religious minorities – in terms of class, regional culture, language, and caste affiliation, there are certain similarities among the minorities and Scheduled Castes as mentioned earlier, more so among the Muslims and neo-Buddhists. The High Power Panel mentions that some minorities and other weaker sections formed on overwhelming part of the poor – i.e. a majority of those below the poverty line33 e.g. the Muslims or Scheduled Castes who are the artisans (as are the Sikhs). Therefore, the two religious communities that are really disadvantaged are the Muslims and neo-Buddhists. While a majority of the neo-Buddhists are Scheduled Castes, their position is covered by the discussion on the Scheduled Castes.

Concern with protecting the distinct cultural heritage of the religious minorities was reflected in the Constitutional provision which allowed them to set up separate educational institutions. This also indicated recognition of cultural pluralism within Indian society. The National Policy on Education (NPE) 1986 states that ‘some minority groups are educationally deprived or backward. Greater attention will be paid to the education of these groups. This will naturally include the constitutional guarantees given to them. Simultaneously, all possible measures will be taken to promote an integration based on appreciation of common national goals and ideals.’34 The NPE states that female literacy and the enrollment of girls are lowest among educationally backward minorities. Information on the education of religious minorities at the all-India basis or at the provincial level is

31Ibid.

32Ibid.

33India, Government of (1983). Report of the High Power Panel on Minorities, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Weaker Sections. New Delhi: Ministry of Home Affairs.

34India, Government of (1986a). National Policy of Education. New Delhi: Department of Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development.

not available since independence in 1947. Government agencies cannot collect information on caste (except Scheduled Caste) and religion. Or if they do, for census purposes, a simple head count is provided of the population by religion. It is not sub-classified by literacy, education or other parameters. Information from different sources has been put together and school level data has been used for want of information on higher education to indicate trends.

Communal, that is, religious, quotas are burdened by an especially dangerous history in 20th century India. On the argument that this ‘former ruling elite minority’ had fallen behind the Hindu majority in accepting modern education, the British colonial authorities awarded Muslims reserved seats in legislatures in 1909, and in 1926 separate electorates and a 25% quota in civil service was provided to reflect their 24% of the population. There is good evidence that these gestures were actually intended to perpetuate British rule by the classic strategy of divide and rule, and separate electorates certainly encouraged communal appeals to voters of the minority community. Another fairly direct result can be traced to the Pakistan Resolution of 1940 and partition in 1947. Whether a Muslim minority with a quarter of the population in a united Indian successor state would have been better off than the 10% left in the Republic of India after the separation of Pakistan is a matter of speculation35

6. Quotas Limited in Scope:

Ashwini Deshpande enumerates the following points with regard to assessment of the affirmative action36. Firstly, it reveals that in the presence of discrimination, labour markets do not function efficiently. Indeed, there are strong discriminatory losses in earnings among subaltern groups; Secondly, while nowhere in the world has AA proven to be sufficient to close the gaps between the privileged and oppressed groups, there is enough evidence to suggest that the gaps would be larger in its absence (Dairity and Deshpande 2003) . For a programme which has been extremely contentious, and marked by extensive litigation and protests, there are surprisingly few rigorous empirical assessments of its impact. All the standard anti-AA arguments have been invoked in the Indian context as well, but with virtually no empirical backing. Before listing the arguments, we should note that arguments against OBC reservations are not the same as those against SC-ST reservations, though there is considerable overlap in the two sets of arguments. The difference between the approach to OBC quotas and SC-ST quotas arises primarily because of the assessment about the nature and extent of deprivation and marginalization of the two groups, in that the case for SC-ST reservation is stronger than that for OBCs. Thus, a support for the SC- ST quota might not naturally translate into support for the extension of reservation towards OBCs, where an argument for a more nuanced gap has been made37.

Glanter(1984) had undertaken a rough but comprehensive assessment of the AA programme. The main conclusions of his analysis may be summarized as follows:

Firstly, the programme has shown substantial redistributive effects in that access to education and jobs is spread wider in the caste spectrum than earlier, although redistribution is not spread evenly

35Ayesha Jalal, Sole Spokesman (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985), Introduction, pp. 1-5.

36Ibid.

37Deshpande, Satish, and Yogendra Yadav. “Redesigning affirmative action: Castes and benefits in higher education.” Economic and Political Weekly(2006): 2419-2424.

throughout the beneficiary groups. There is evidence of clustering, but Galanter believes that these reflect structural factors, since the better situated enjoy a disproportionate share of the benefits in any government programme, not just in AA programmes38.

Secondly, the vast majority of Dalits are not directly affected by AA, but reserved jobs bring a manifold increase in the number of families liberated from the subservient roles.

Thirdly, in the short run, beneficiaries might get singled out and experience social rejection in offices, college hostels, and other set-ups where they are introduced through AA. However, in the long run, education and jobs weaken the stigmatizing association of Dalits with ignorance and incompetence. Moreover, ‘resentment of preferences may magnify hostility to these groups, but rejection of them exists independently of affirmative action programmes’39

Fourthly, reserved seats do provide representation to SC-STs in legislative bodies, but that may not get reflected in enhanced, targeted policies towards these groups for several reasons. First, these candidates are elected by a common electorate and hence, SC-ST candidates have to appeal to a wider, multi-group electoral constituency, and tailor programmes accordingly. Second, these candidates typically belong to political parties which have a larger agenda than that of Dalit empowerment, which their elected representatives, including Dalits, have to reflect upon.

Fifthly, AA has kept the beneficiary groups and their problems visible to the educated public, but it has not motivated widespread concern for their inclusion beyond what is mandated by government policy.

7. Summary

Most social scientists today agree that identity is a social construction, not a primordial given. They also agree that the state (through its power to dominate discourse) is a key agent in the process of identity construction. The tangible effects of affirmative action differ, however, from what the social construction theory predicts40. The backward classes never emerged as a viable identity. What emerged instead was a multiplicity of castes. The government’s prolonged attempt ever since independence to construct the ‘backward classes’ only reinforced the caste system. The logic of affirmative action explains this unintended outcome.

• 38Galantor, Marc Competing Equalities: Law and the Backward Classes in India. Oxford University Press, 1984.
• 39Ibid
• 40De Zwart, Frank. “The logic of affirmative action: Caste, class and quotas in India.” Acta Sociologica3 (2000): 235-249.

REFERENCES:

• Annual Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Commissioners Report. Also reported in Bill No. XLII of 2000 called The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Bill as introduced in the Rajya Sabha.
• Chanana, Karuna. “Accessing higher education: the dilemma of schooling women, minorities,
• Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in contemporary India.” Higher Education 26.1 (1993): 69-92.
• Coate, Stephen, and Glenn C. Loury. “Will affirmative-action policies eliminate negative stereotypes?.” The American Economic Review (1993): 1220-1240.
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