Quota Quicksand
By Poonam I Kaushish
Quota and caste, India’s oldest go-to arrows in its election quiver is back on the political platter doling out reservations like moongphalis to pander to their vote-banks. Underscoring, 21st Century India still remains the same: Quota is not only an all-seasons favourites but also a new hot potato on the boil! Thus, marking a critical turn in politics.
Last week BJP Government’s Haryana became the first State to implement Supreme Court’s seven Bench judgment August, allowing Scheduled Caste (SC) sub-quotas. Thereby overruling its 2004 judgment by a five-member Constitution Bench that said such sub-classification was impermissible as Parliament alone was empowered to modify the SCs list notified by the President under Article 341.
Hence SCs are divided into two groups: Deprived Scheduled Castes (DSCs) comprising 36 groups like Balmikis, Dhanaks, Mazhabi Sikhs and Khatiks and Other Scheduled Castes (OSCs) with castes such as Chamar, Jatia Chamar, Rehgar, Raigar, Ramdasi, Ravidasi and Jatav with each segment getting half of 20% quota of Government jobs in the State, set aside for Dalits.
Primarily, to address inequalities within the broader group, which has become a polarising issue, as better empowered Dalits are opposing it. Two, it is BJP’s ploy of exploiting differences within the community’s umbrella categories which have historically sought affirmative action and have mostly favoured anti-BJP Parties, and win their large votes.
Specially as the sub-classification pitch helped BJP pick up a substantial chunk of SC votes winning 8 of 17 reserved seats, up from five in 2019 in its historic third consecutive term. More so, after having successfully cleaved OBC’s into dominant and non-dominant sections, the Party is now focussed on SC votes.
Maharashtra’s Mahayuti Government (BJP, SS and NCP Ajit) which readies for polls, has set up a panel to look into sub-quotas signifying internally dividing SC quota is part of BJP’s strategy going ahead and counter to Opposition’s caste census pitch.
True, Dalit sub-quotas are an untried political apparatus, but with Dalits becoming a powerful category, this will undoubtedly change the mobilisation pattern within sections. Parties like BSP, Maharashtra’s RPI,Tamil Nadu’s VCK and Congress in Punjab are dominated by numerically dominant Dalit group.
Questionably, will weaker among Dalits get representation from further sub-classification? What are views on creamy layer exclusion? Will it replace ‘doctrine of equality’ with ‘doctrine of classification?’ Will it bring much-needed deeper equality? How will levels of backwardness be determined?
Pertinently, in the larger picture sub-categorisation is a positive step as better-offs have tended to corner reservation benefits, crowding out the more marginalized. Given SC categories have expanded or become more porous wherein new groups get added. Hence, a community marginalised on the crowded OBC list stands a better chance at access to jobs, education and scholarships if it is on SC list.
Sub-categorisation carried out efficiently and honestly will help make quotas more inclusive by identifying and including those worse-off in terms of social capital also. Punjab with 32% SC realized the need for sub-quotas in 1975 reserving 50% SC quota for Valmikis and Mazhabi Sikhs. Tamil Nadu made it lodestone for social justice.
Don’t get me wrong, certainly social justice is desirable and a laudable goal, alongside Government’s fundamental mission to educate, provide equal opportunities and better quality of life. But thinly sliced quotas are hardly sum and substance of affirmative action. Sub-quotas alone can never correct endemic discrimination or counter the shrinking jobs pie. Example: Rehabilitation of manual scavengers continues to be challenging.
Quotas have become a replacement for decades of under-performance in providing basic quality education to all. As a result this short-sighted quick-fix expansion of reservation has only resulted in hardening of narrow group identities. Bringing things to such a pass whereby electoral power politics has led to numerically dominant groups gaining at the expense of others.
Addressing discrimination in schools and workplaces, as policy, remains a blind spot as contempt is reserved for the “quota-wala.” Also, assimilation remains a huge challenge. Government sector jobs are down and private sector work are elusive. Resulting in caste certificate scams.
Consequently, desperation for a somewhat steady livelihood finds expression in repeated returns to demands for quota as the only solution. All this speaks of policy failure as reservation is not the sole panacea for uplifting people or bettering their lot. Worse, no study has been done to find out whether post quotas any effort is made to build up morale of those given reservation to bring them into mainstream. Underscoring that quotes don’t solve what’s wrong with education or provide better quality of life.
Moreover, it is dangerous to indulge in stoking rivalries on the facetious reason that it is to uplift the down-trodden. Instead, it has created both victims and fake winners. Whereby the mere accident of birth determines whether one is a winner or loser. Bluntly, those born poor are sufferers and those born upper castes are victors.
Alas, since the nineties Parties have used quotas to lure smaller groups as Dalit votes are no longer homogeneous which has created new political paradigms. The way forward will hinge essentially on core intent — acknowledging and addressing the intense inequality within SCs and translating it on the ground. Else, it could become a pretext for political misreading and tinkering.
The truth is that we are today caught in a vicious circle which has been made a lot more malignant by our petty-at-all cost leaders and their fragmented politics. Not just that. The scepter that haunts us is class struggle: Backwards vs forwards has become more meaningful than Left and Right in politics. Whereby, the whole social reform movement will become meaningless.
Our netas and their progenies should remember that social justice and equal opportunity is not the prerogative of a chosen few. As it stands the system of caste-based quotas has become divisive and self-defeating. The need of the hour is to provide quality education to all, skilling as reservations are no answer to fulfilling the people’s aspirations. By cramming down quotas in education and jobs is like putting the cart before the horse.
They need to realise they are dealing with a savvy Gen X and Gen Z aged 18-35 years who constitute 50% population and believe in action not reaction. They seek jobs on merit in an over-crowed employment market where the labour force is growing 3.5% annually, employment is rising by 2.3% resulting in increasing 7.1% joblessness. Sadly, none has given thought to the challenge of absorbing new entrants to the job market, 15 million every year and clearing the backlog. In this scenario where do quotas fit?
First and foremost they should recognize that inequalities exist and should be rectified. Merely having quotas in education or cramming down quotas in jobs will not spell excellence. Towards that end, they need to develop innovative ways of making them qualify thereby enabling them to compete with the general category.
In the final crunch: Provide equal opportunity to all. It is imperative our leaders create a level-playing field as quotas are divisive and self-defeating. Clearly, headcounts cant suffice for sub-quotas to be meaningful.
There are over 1,200 SC communities. Each must be parsed for their sicio-economic data. That’s a mammoth task and poltics will be a determinant. How it contributes as affirmative action is now all political number games. Expect more churn in Dalit politics. — INFA