Reservation is the biggest fraud played upon the First Principle of Equality

Reservation in education is the biggest fraud played upon the first principle of fundamental rights i.e. equality. 

 ‘Divide a loaf by a knife—what’s the answer to that?’
‘I suppose—’ Alice was beginning, but the Red Queen answered for her. ‘Bread-and-butter, of course. Try another Subtraction sum. Take a bone from a dog: what remains?’
Alice considered. ‘The bone wouldn’t remain, of course, if I took it—and the dog wouldn’t remain; it would come to bite me—and I’m sure I shouldn’t remain!’
‘Then you think nothing would remain?’ said the Red Queen.
‘I think that’s the answer.’
‘Wrong, as usual,’ said the Red Queen: ‘the dog’s temper would remain.’

-Through the Looking-Glass

 

Article 14. The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.  

Article 15. The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them. 

Article 16. Equality of opportunity in matters of public employment

(1) There shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the State

 (2) No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, residence or any of them, be ineligible for, or discriminated against in respect or, any employment or office under the State.

These are the contents of the Constitution of India. It is held sacred by the many who were and are deriving benefits of the flagrant violation of the first principle. 

The First Amendment of the Constitution of India trampled upon the fundamental rights of majority of Indians. It amplified Art 15 (3) by adding 

(4) Nothing in this article or in clause (2) of Article 29 shall prevent the State from making any special provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.

This is genesis of powers of the State to provide reservation in education.

The belief that the Constitution provided reservation in education only for 10 years is incorrect. The provision for 10 years applies to reservation of seats in Lok Sabha, Assemblies and elections to local bodies. Contrary to common belief, the politicians have not been extending reservation in education. That reservation is open-ended. It is not likely to stop after ten or twenty years. It’s designed to go on forever.

As is the reservation in government jobs.  They may shrink. The government may downsize its operations. Class IV jobs may be outsourced. But the government goes on increasing percentage of reservation, regardless of consequences. Reservation means not only provision of seats, but fees subsidized by the State, special provisions for lodging, boarding, scholarship and training for the new reserved class. Plus the other economic entitlements in the name of special provisions like soft loans via various Backward Class Development Corporations, apprenticeship in government run institutions etc.

Nondiscrimination on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them was a fundamental right. Reservation curtailed it. Reservation discriminates between otherwise equal citizens on all grounds that the Constitution specifically prohibits. Reservation is the worst form of discrimination. It continues for generations. Its benefits are gained by birth and not by any voluntary act. 

Reservation is not a fundamental right: Supreme Court  

Neo-Buddhists, converts from one religion to another enjoy reservation. The category Scheduled Tribes is discrimination on account of alleged race. They are described as original inhabitants [मूलनिवासी] by the radical elements, thereby stamping all others as outsiders. Reservation for Scheduled Castes [SC] is discriminatory on ground of caste. Birthright of reservation to ward of a reserved category student is discriminatory on ground of descent. Domicile rules are discriminatory on ground of place of birth and residence.

The State discriminates on all grounds prohibited by the Constitution. Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh have provided reservation to Muslims, based on their religion. Maratha reservation has been granted on the basis of caste. The reservation for female seats on various local bodies is perverse discrimination on the ground of sex.

Constitutional principles are followed more in breach than in compliance.

Constitution has been amended 103 times, altering its nature. Today, it’s a caricature of the all-inclusive, benevolent, egalitarian document that it was intended to be. Far from inducing fraternity amongst citizens, the seeds of discord sown by the discrimination are bearing ever bitter fruit.

The worst changes have been the provisions enabling reservations. Though founding fathers debated about the quantum of reservation, no time limit was provided. Though the Constitution provides for socially and educationally backward classes, no yardstick has been devised in the seventy years of its functioning to define what these classes should mean and include. The age old division of castes has been perpetuated and further entrenched by reservation policies. The very caste which was the basis of discrimination is now a source of fierce pride. Far from annihilation of caste, the reservation system has made caste the primary identity.

Qualification and eligibility for professional courses has been diluted from time to time. There is now no minimum qualifying marks criterion for reserved category candidates. The disparity in cut-off numbers is gut-wrenching. The meritorious get admissions to the prestigious colleges in branches of their choice. Merit is a matter of distinction amongst the eligible and qualified. So the cry of “save merit” is a misconception. Merit is already safe. What is at stake is the fate of the ‘other’ qualified and eligible students. They are the most affected by reservation policy.

Traditionally, medical education has been the most sought after field for the topmost talent in India. But increasing percentage coupled with so many parallel reservations frustrates the efforts of students to secure a seat in an adequately equipped government medical college. After their studious efforts at securing sufficient marks in qualifying examinations yield expected results, reservation snatches away their chance to get any seat in a professional course. The better off amongst them are forced to seek admissions in private colleges or deemed universities at exorbitant cost. Rest of the talented pool is just refused the reward for their dedicated study for four or more years.

Situation is similar in colleges offering other professional courses. The IITs lose many students in the first year itself, leading to loss of utilization of infrastructure and manpower deployed at huge cost.

All around the country, there is outcry against the poor quality of teachers appointed from reserved category. There are news about villages striking to protest against appointment of substandard teachers appointed on reservation quota. The adverse impact on excellence in work and administration due to appointment of under-qualified candidates to responsible government posts is being subjected to ridicule on social media. 

The end is not in sight, but the battle has begun. The open category is owning up to its past and claiming impartiality. Why should they suffer for the alleged excesses of their ancestors? Why should a person incapable of doing routine calculations find his name in the list of admissions to prestigious colleges? Why should a person scoring zero in two subjects out of three be held eligible for admission to a professional course where much more qualified candidates do not get a seat?

Reservation as it exists today is the curse of India. Rethinking reservation policy may provide resurgence of India as a dominating force on the world map. Reservation, quota or आरक्षण; by whatever name called, the special provisions made by the government for advancement of backward classes are hated by people who do not benefit by it. Much has happened since the adoption of the Constitution about seventy years ago. Yet, there has been no review of the widely despised policy.

According to critics, the unending conferral of benefits on people born in certain castes (above 500 in Maharashtra) is inherently flawed because caste alone does not make a person disadvantaged. Further, the benefits include not only procuring seats but also in scholarships, fees waiver, lower qualifying marks and age relaxation etc. The list goes on. They include advantage in chance of education, post-graduation, employment as well as promotion.

Reservation in education and employment is a hot topic of discussion, particularly amongst the youth and their parents. With ‘career’ being of utmost concern, Indians view good education as a guarantee of assured economic wellbeing. Employment on salary is a gateway to a safe life in India where very few people think of starting a new venture unless they are forced to. 

Since the extension of reservation to Marathas in Maharashtra [SEBC] and Economically Weaker Sections [EWS] by the Centre, the debate around reservation has taken a new head. It intensified after the statement of RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat that there should be a cordial debate between those opposed to reservation and those in its favour. There is renewed awareness about the issue, but little understanding of it. 

The beneficiaries of reservation have appropriated Constitution as a sacred text. The government has endorsed this by making reading of the Preamble mandatory on certain occasions. The Preamble has literally been engraved upon prominent places in premises of Courts and other official places. But the Constitution did not originally provide for reservation in education and employment. 

The Constitution provides reservation for political offices i.e. the Panchayats, the Lok Sabha, the legislative assemblies of the States and the Municipalities. And those reservations are for a specific period. The Constitution of India originally provided

Article 334.

Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of this Part, the provisions of Constitution relating to

(a) the reservation of seats for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in the House of the People and in the Legislative Assemblies of the States;

[and (b) xxxxxxx]

 shall cease to have effect on the expiration of a period of (ten) years from the commencement of this Constitution.

The ten years have been unanimously extended every ten years. The seventh extension will expire in 2020. The original (ten) years has been replaced by (seventy) vide the 95^th Amendment to the Constitution.  

The part of the Constitution enabling the State to make provisions for advancement of backward classes or Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes is contained in sub-clause (4) of Articles 15. This was introduced by the First Amendment to the Constitution in 1951. The First Amendment was the first and biggest blow to the idea of qualification and competence being the criteria for selection for education. The first thing changed in the Constitution was the assurance of equality of opportunity and non-discrimination.

In the name of special provisions, the pitch was queered for under-qualified and substandard candidates. The very idea of non-discrimination and equality of opportunity was subverted by the introduction of special provisions, the foremost being reservation.

The enabling provisions have been used by State Governments to confer untold benefits upon the ‘reserved’ categories. As mentioned above, the list is endless. The socialist welfare state idolized by Nehru, and modeled on the U. S. S. R. meant that the government took upon itself the upliftment of the citizens. The Social Welfare Department schemes are virtual charities dispensing aid to all; looking for opportunities to bestow benefits on as wide a range of citizens as possible. For a resource hungry nation such as India, this is a disastrous policy. The special measures to be taken by the government for the downtrodden could have been a good step towards removal of inequalities. On the contrary, it has created a society polarized between the privileged at birth by reservation and those qualified for the seat by hard work.

Fundamental Rights, the third part of the Constitution in which the right to equality and prohibition of discrimination on the grounds of “religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them” are enshrined itself empowered the government to trample upon the rights of millions of deserving candidates from getting seats in education or employment that they deserved. There is no end in sight. The demands for evermore concessions, facilities and privileges are ceded by state governments. They do so to please the sizeable population which has been voting en masse for parties giving sops. More and more castes, groups and communities are seeking reservation or inclusion in a category with more opportunities. Powerful communities which have ruled states for decades by political strength have become vociferous in their demand for inclusion in ‘backward class’ or for grant of reservation.

The politically strong Maratha community which was categorized as ‘forward caste’ by the Mandal Commission has successfully obtained reservation in Maharashtra as Socially and Educationally Backward [SEBC] Class, the only caste to be so characterized, distinct from the 346 castes included in the Other Backward Classes [OBC]. It is ironic that Kunbis, a caste which has been held to be the same as Marathas, is included along with (Leva, Kunbi, Leva Patidar) Kunbi Maratha and Maratha Kunbi at Serial No 83 of the list of OBCs in Maharashtra. With the Bombay High Court upholding the SEBC reservation at 12% for education and 13% for employment, coupled with 10% given by EWS, Maharashtra students are burdened by 74% reservation.

The provision for reservation in education is discretionary, that is, the government has provided reservation in education as a special measure. The reservation in employment is mandatory. Lost in the din is Article, which 335 provides that claims of the SC and ST shall be taken into consideration while employing people for service in the Union and States. However, the provisions of special measures in employment are to be used only when the government thinks that the backward class is not adequately represented in services under the state. There is no such qualification for educational seats.

Various states have made reservation laws different in percentage and composition. Disparity in reservation in various states is because reservation is a State subject. The only central reservation is the latest EWS. It is yet to be tested in the Supreme Court. Decision on that matter by the Supreme Court will provide a guideline to the future of reservations in India.

Recent events have galvanized the otherwise pliant ‘open category’ into action. Protest marches, dharna andolan, ghantanaad, loud posters against reservation are seen in various cities. Social media is abuzz with unreserved (अनारक्षित) pride. There is discussion about the size and extent of open category. Ways and means of tackling the issues are being discussed. Various organisations with differing aims and ideologies are matching horns for public attention and wider following.The open category has found a new voice to talk about ending reservation.

What is the percentage of the open category?

The nation’s resources are poured into confirming that education qualification tested by scientific methods is the only criteria for successful completion of professional courses. Sadly, that confirmation comes from the high rates of dropouts of students from the reserved category in the first year itself.  

There is bound to be fierce resistance to the increased reservation. How tolerant should the public at large be? The ‘cordial debate’ suggested by Mohan Bhagwat may not happen. But debate and furious discussion around the topic of reservation is underway and thriving.

It is argued that total reliance of the said class on these provisions have made them less competitive. The incentive to study hard is taken away by the assurance of a seat for a reserved category student, and hence their poor performance, goes a theory. The founding fathers believed that the oppressed classes would never be competent to compete with the privileged few on basis of merit.

The insertion of special provisions for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes was supposed to be bestowal of special favours on an underprivileged class. That has long been turned topsy turvy. A proviso to the Constitutional promise of equality before law given as a fundamental right has become the most potent tool for discrimination against open category students. The ‘special provision’ of reservation has snatched away 74% seats from the open category. Exception has become the norm. Normalcy in education i.e. opportunity on the basis of qualification and eligibility is gasping for survival. Something is seriously wrong.

Time to ask some serious questions. If the reserved category students are otherwise capable, and only the idea of an assured seat is making them complacent, why not remove reservation in seats altogether? And if they are inherently incapable of achieving higher education or competing on the basis of merit with other students, why are the government bent upon so much to make them occupy seats meant for only the best and most studious candidates?  

© Adv. Shrirang Choudhary