Understanding the order regarding Madhya Pradesh OBC quota

In an historic interim order, the Madhya Pradesh High Court has stayed the implementation of increased quota in the OBC reservation. The reservation for OBC in Madhya Pradesh was increased from 14% to 27% by the Congress Government led by CM Kamal Nath in 2019. The related Amendment Act was challenged by the petitioners, who had also sought a stay to the implementation of the enhanced quota in the recruitment of employees in Classes II, III and IV by the Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission.

More than 400 posts to be filled by the advertisement issued in 2019 would be affected by the order. It should be noted that the recruitment process had almost been completed. Only the final selection list was awaited. However, despite many opportunities being granted, the M. P. Government had not filed its say to the interim application. On last date, the High Court had directed the government to file its say on 28th January, the next date fixed for hearing. However, despite seeking repeated adjournments the M. P. government did not file its say.

The High Court thereafter ordered that the recruitment process may continue, provided only the earlier existing 14% quota is applied for OBC reservation.

It is contented by the petitioners that the increased quota takes the total reservation to 63% which is beyond the 50% mandated by the Supreme Court in Indra Sawhney’s case. It is a point of interest that the crux of the case against Maratha reservation is that it increases the reservation beyond that limit.

Maratha Reservation in the Supreme Court, a look. 

The order assumes importance because it is interim in nature. The long pending process of recruitment will have to be completed. Hopefully, that rules out the mischief governments do by way of Ordinances. In any case, this is welcome news. Time for celebration. Hope the tide is turning to the benefit of the open classes.

Tailpiece: The recruitment process (मेगाभरती) in Maharashtra was in effect stayed in the cases against Maratha reservation. As for reservation in education, the original Act provided, per S. 16 (2) that the reservation was not applicable to courses to which admission process had begun prior to the SEBC Act coming in effect. Only the totally obnoxious mindset of the government, expressed by the much hated Ordinance promulgated by the GoM caused the devastation for the 2019 medical PG and UG batches.

©Adv. Shrirang Choudhary

We, as a nation are not ready for another divisive exercise. A note on Census 2021.

Census is a solemn exercise carried out by the Central government. All these fulminations about caste wise Census are just a lot of gas. The last caste wise count was done in 1931. Yet, in the Constituent Assembly Debates, there is mention that many Dalits mentioned their castes wrongly in 1941.

“. . . according to 1931 census we are few but even that is tolerable as compared to the 1941 census, when the latter was taken the war was on and it is possible that the census might not have been taken correctly, especially of the Scheduled Castes. Caste Hindus got Scheduled Castes registered as Hindus and the Muslims got them registered as Muslims. Therefore, I suspect that the 1941 census is absolutely wrong.”  H. J. Khandekar in Constituent Assembly Debates https://www.constitutionofindia.net/constitution_assembly_debates/volume/5/1947-08-27

It was argued in the Constituent Assembly Debates that the (political) reservations should be on the basis of 1931 Census and not on the basis of the (allegedly faulty) 1941 count. If the statistics of the caste wise count were dubbed as biased or otherwise not accurate in the 1947, one can imagine what will happen if caste wise Census takes place now in the era of fake news, distortions and false pride in castes.

OBCs have been demanding caste wise Census because they want sub categorisation. Also because according to them, their true size was not gauged by the policy makers at the time of extending the OBC reservation i.e. implementation of Mandal Commission recommendations. Other groups claim that the 27% reservation was allotted to OBCs on the hypothetical basis of their percentage in the population. Vested interests have never allowed caste wise Census for so long because the real counts of particular castes may yield surprising results.

There are many ways in which the government utilizes the data gathered by Census. Enumeration of various data is done by the Government. Apart from the Census, there is National Sample Survey Office [NSSO] which routinely gathers data. There are a thousand ways to determine the numerical strength of a particular community. Even the data gathered by Census mechanism is not analysed to its fullest. There is vast scope for understanding and interpreting data for better distribution of resources.

It is imperative that intellectuals of all views should try to understand how to interpret the available data. NSSO surveys, wholesale price and other indices would reveal a lot about condition of the society. Only the leftists and so called liberal writers have so far mined the data to suit their purposes. It's time for fresh views on all matters, including a look at suitability of reservation as a tool for upliftment of the people not in the mainstream.

Calls for inclusion of this or that data by the government is done out of deep and total ignorance of the vast machinery and apparatus that the government yields. The point is not the availability of data. Whatever data is required by intending shapers of policy is out there in the open. If one can just manage google searches, loads of data are available.

Specification of caste wise population, to reveal strength or weakness of particular castes and groups will open a can of worms. Are we ready?

What is the percentage of Open Category?

Tailpiece: There is a tendency to gain so called higher caste privilege by adopting surnames, while at the same time seeking lower caste benefits by claiming social and economic deprivation. How will the twain meet?

©Adv. Shrirang Choudhary.

shrirangchoudhary@gmail.com