Don't trivialise reservations: Rethink upper-caste quotas

Yet, no careful deliberation went into Mr Gehlot's suddenly-announced decision, spurred by the demand of the Social Justice Front, representing only 11 castes (of Rajasthan's total of 316).

Mr Gehlot's move has pre-empted the BJP's plans to agitate for EBC quotas and win upper-caste support. BJP general secretary Pramod Mahajan first dubbed the move a "political gimmick". But within a week, the party adopted it and demanded a "national commission" on EBC quotas.

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The Vajpayee government has since referred the issue to the Attorney General. India's two biggest parties will now fight for upper-caste votes. Both claim it's their agenda. The BJP quotes a 1985 resolution, and the Congress a 1991 Central order.

Are EBC quotas ethically and politically right? Don't economically disadvantaged Brahmins, Rajputs or Banias deserve reservations, like the OBCs under the Mandal Commission?

The mushy, elitist, negative answer is that all reservations are bad in principle; they devalue "merit". But we know that in India's super-hierarchical society, it's not merit, but extreme stratification, that's important. "Merit" often masks privilege, monopolised by the elite.

The no-nonsense answer is that there are poor layers among the savarnas (upper-castes), but job reservations are not the right solution. The state must help those who face chronic social discrimination. Upper-caste people don't.

Let's understand the rationale of reservations. The Constitution didn't reserve quotas for Dalits and Adivasis because they are poor (which they are). It did so because these groups faced explicit, systematic denial of their human dignity, and exclusion from public life for centuries.

The denial of the Dalit's humanity was sanctioned by the dharmashastras. Anti-Dalit discrimination and "untouchability" have received more religious legitimacy than any other obnoxious practice in India.

Reservations acknowledged this injustice and sought to bring these hitherto-ostracised people into the mainstream. This was morally imperative. The Constitution Assembly debates recognised that although equal opportunity is important, there must "be a provision for the entry of certain communities which have so far been outside the administration."

Job reservations for savarnas cannot possibly have such justification. Savarnas were never excluded from the mainstream or discriminated against on grounds of descent. They didn't face a denial of human dignity. The scriptures, which they interpret, aren't biased against them as a group.

The function of quotas in jobs and educational institutions is not to help individuals improve their economic condition, but to empower a whole community whose aspirations were crushed. The function is political.

This rationale doesn't apply to savarnas, however poor. As a group, they are privileged. Undeniably, there are some underprivileged savarnas, who are under-represented in government jobs. After all, India is a society of "competing inequalities" and injustices, and of uneven development. But reservations cannot address individual grievances.

Again, compare the quality of discrimination the wretched of the Indian earth face. Dalits are killed, made to carry human excreta on their heads, and violated and humiliated in a hundred ways. Even an economically better-off Dalit remains socially disadvantaged. Most Dalit children don't remotely enjoy equal opportunity.

The poorest of Brahmins can excommunicate a Dalit or impose ritual punishment upon her, however rich she might be.

Given this unique oppression, it's right to reserve jobs for Dalits in proportion to their population share. This doesn't apply to OBCs although they too face systematic social discrimination, as the Mandal report documented for 3,743 castes. So, it recommended 27 percent reservation, roughly half the OBC population share.

The rationale of the Mandal report was to break the savarna stranglehold on government jobs. This was necessary.

There's a practical problem with EBC quotas too. Almost anyone can obtain a false income certificate and claim the EBC quota. Our rich are known for dishonesty. But it's not easy to fake caste certificates. Nine-tenths of such certificates are authentic because even the village patwari knows that fake certificates might help his rivals get jobs.

We must distinguish between three kinds of measures to help the socially disadvantaged: affirmative action, positive discrimination, and strict quotas in schools/colleges and jobs.

Affirmative action can take many forms: special schools or vocational guidance facilities, and encouragement to specific groups. These can be extended to the truly poor savarna strata.

Positive discrimination, such as preference in state employment or school fee concessions, should be confined to Dalits, Adivasis and OBCs alone.

Strict quotas in school seats and jobs must be available only to the most disadvantaged among the Dalits and tribals, barring all the "creamy" layers.

The Congress and BJP should reconsider EBC quotas. Yet, neither is likely to do so. The Congress has lost most of its upper-caste base in the Hindi belt. It's keen to recover some.

The BJP is desperate to win back eroding support. In UP, its savarna base is in tatters. EBC quotas make the BJP salivate. The Indian Express quotes an office-bearer: "This ...

is going to be the Ram-baan (panacea) for all our ailments ...[With EBC quotas], we'll beat our adversaries hands-down..."

In the long run, the BJP is better placed to win savarna support than the Congress. Hindutva has an upper-caste bias, and contempt for religious traditions popular among the lower castes. The savarnas also support the BJP's pro-globalisation economics which favours them.

The Congress lacks a coherent upper caste-friendly identity and risks losing its core-support by advocating EBC quotas. This is even truer of other secular parties -- the Left, Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janata Dal, Telugu Desam, Janata Dal, etc.

The Congress has a stake in returning to ordinary people's agendas. The BJP doesn't. But will the Congress resist the lure of short-term gains, in defence of its own long-term interests?

Praful Bidwai is an eminent Indian columnist.