Make Reservations Effective to Eliminate Them
Arun Kumar
CESP/SSS, JNU, N Delhi 110067.
Mainstream June 10, 2006. Vol. XLIV No 25.Pp. 5 –11.
The government has announced that the Mandal Phase II is on, come what may. It has been called a commitment to the nation. The anti-reservation agitations are continuing. A confrontation is building up which seems to have no solution. The issues are complex and the various parties in the conflict – political parties, students, professionals and intellectuals - have taken partisan positions so that the situation of conflict is likely to prolong and it would become one more festering sore for the nation. Often the government adopts a delaying tactic to tire out people and this may also happen now that the agitating students give up but it creates long term issues of loss of credibility and growing alienation.
The anti reservation protestors have down played the issue of equity and focused on merit. In spite of the limited perspective adopted by the students, they are doing those who have favoured reservations a service by forcing them to reexamine and reassess the issues involved so that the schemes in operation can be made more effective. While this may or may not alter the elitist consciousness of the agitating students, a bigger benefit would be the change in those who have been in favour of the scheme in a formalistic sense; who in a sense have led to the discrediting of reservations.
When the reservations were introduced in the country, it was hoped, perhaps naively but perhaps in the spirit of nation building that this would help eliminate caste and the associated disparities and that in a short time span, reservations would not be required and could be eliminated. None of this has happened and reservation has become a permanent feature of our existence. Who is to blame for the failure? The indefinite extension of reservations means that it has not been successful. However, it has had partial success to the extent that the number of the deprived in all categories of education and jobs has gone up. The emergence of the creamy layer amongst the Dalits is a visible sign of its partial success.
Why has the problem cropped up again? Have some people become more deprived recently and if so, who are they? Are there no other ways to compensate for the deprivation of these people than reservation? Will not some other form of affirmative action do? Of course, there are many political aspects that underlie the actions of the various actors in today’s confrontation but here the attempt is to not focus on them except tangentially. Most people agree that on grounds of equity affirmative action should be there but what and for whom are the questions people do not agree on. Most people agree that reservations should end at some point of time but when? There are large disagreements on these issues.
Who are the deprived?
The backward castes have been demanding reservations, especially after the Mandal Commission Report but have not been considered to be as deprived as the Dalits were. Deprivation is a continuum from the most backward to the most privileged. The question is up to what point special privileges need to be created to compensate the under-privileged? At the time of independence, it was clear that the line should be drawn at what are today’s Dalits and no more. The others who today are demanding reservations were not considered backward enough to justify being granted reservations.
In reality, India as a whole was a backward and under-privileged nation in 1947. Today, at $600 per capita and in terms of most social indicators it is still one of the most underdeveloped nations in the world. At the turn of the century, barely 2% of the population was students and only 11% of the population was literate. There was hardly any higher education in the country – whether for the upper or the lower castes. In brief, a majority, including many belonging to the upper castes were under privileged in the educational sense. Death rate was high for all groups because of the poor social conditions. The per capita income was low for all groups. All groups were deprived of political power by the British, except those who collaborated but then they enjoyed only derived power not because of their being a part of an elite caste group. Hence, in 1947 almost all of India was under-privileged economically and socially but the Dalits were the most under privileged since they were also historically socially deprived and were exploited by all the groups above them in social ranking. These are broad strokes and there are various nuances that need to be taken into account for analysis.
It was a social contract of the national movement that all groups would be brought up and those who were at the bottom would be specially provided an opportunity to come up by assuring them reservations. They were given quotas in the legislatures, public sector jobs and educational institutions. It was realized that there was a possibility of ghettoization in this but that was considered a lesser evil since a historical wrong needed to be corrected. It was hoped that as opportunities open out, discrimination would also decline. As stated above, there was limited success.
In brief, data indicate that at the time of independence, all sections were deprived in most senses. After independence great strides have been made in literacy, health, incomes, etc. Thus, for most sections deprivation has declined. What is true is that disparities have increased and in that sense deprivation continues. Given that poverty persists, absolute deprivation also continues for some. For reservations to be extended, data need to be collected to show what has happened to deprivation amongst the backward castes? Has it increased compared to what it was at the time of independence. Scattered evidence suggests that many of the backward castes have done well.
Working of the Reservations
There are several reasons for the limited success of reservations. First, the national spirit could not be sustained beyond the initial years and the task of nation building was replaced by working for narrow sectarian interests. The notion of sacrificing for the task of nation building has been replaced by working for one’s narrow self-interest. Second, the incorrect development strategy adopted by the Indian elite since independence based on the top down approach in their own narrow self interest. This meant that the poor were marginal and the idea of equity (on which the notion of reservation was based) in society weakened.
Third, the small creamy layer of the Dalits was coopted in the elite ruling class. They did not challenge the development strategy or the marginalization of their own people. They have not worked for the change of the consciousness of the country in favour of democratization. Fourth, there was the massive failure of the state and its incapacity to deliver due to growing and rampant corruption. Consequently, high quality education is not available to all and adequate number of jobs have not been created so that there is a fight over the few spoils. Fifth, the belief in the various emerging politically powerful groups that the secular state cannot deliver so they have to grab privileges through capturing state power by any means.
The striking feature of all this is the role of the creamy layer. Their cooption into the ruling groups and inability to lead democratic movements which could change social consciousness and help all their own people to come up. At times, it appears that they have a vested interest in the continuation of reservations and an indifference to the others of their own groups. In a sense, they have acted no different than the other elite groups. Their large numbers in the parliament and the legislatures did not mean greater force for democratization which could have benefited all the under privileged in the continuum. Partly, this is political and partly it comes out of an insecurity.
In general, when any incompetent person (of any caste) moves up due to privileges, like, money or political power or family connections, they are insecure and defensive. In India, we are still feudal and this characterizes our political, business, professional and academic groups. Their relatives move up no matter what their capabilities. Unfortunately, most of those who come up through reservation have also adopted this approach. Consequently, they are also less confident and insecure. Rather than developing a broader perspective they often display a narrow defensive mould. The decline of the wider social consciousness all around enabled them also to justify their own narrowing of perspectives. The truly under privileged have lost out.
In brief, the blame for the lack of success of reservations is not only on the upper caste elite but also on the creamy layer of the Dalits. Reservations based on equity and social justice requires that horizontal equity be respected. Since the creamy layer has moved up and is perhaps better off than many in the upper castes, they should volunteer to be excluded from reservations. Those who today distrust reservations would then see the merit of going for vertical equity and positive discrimination for the poor.
Market and Merit
Today, with the market philosophy ruling, where is the question of sacrifice by any one. The dominant ideology has changed to `me for myself’. This is not only true for the business classes but also the political classes. Leaders from the national movement, led by Gandhi, set an example of sacrifice which everyone else followed. Nation building rather than me first was the motto of those in the national movement. Today, in Parliament or in the parties where are the symbols of sacrifice? Designer clothes are replacing Khadi, jet setting to come to parliament has replaced walking down to parliament and making money hand over fist through corruption has become the norm for successful politicians. Even those who wear Khadi in Parliament come out in fancy suits in the evening to socialize in five star hotels. Our leaders break most rules in the law book and then expect that the students will be idealistic and sacrifice. What examples are we setting that we ask the students to be different?
One may say these people have no ideological commitments so why expect them to be any different? This is itself a sad commentary on our politics that now there is little commitment to wider goals. However, there is a section of our society which has attained its status due to intellectual commitment - the academics. Even amongst them those professing socialist philosophy are busy making money rather than advancing the cause of the deprived. They take on projects and consultancies rather than do genuine research and teaching – killing the democratic spirit of the Universities and Colleges. They are the most immediate examples to students of what success is. We need to ask ourselves, when is the last time anyone of us in the elite groups agreed to sacrifice even a small privilege? Even those in the creamy layer are refusing to give up their privilege.
Why expect the students or anyone else to sacrifice for a very imperfect reservation? It is clear that the reservation policy does call on some students to sacrifice – those in the middle. Fifty per cent of the seats will remain for the general category students so the very best will have no problem of admissions. Some good students (possibly still at the top or in the middle) will be replaced by the less meritorious who enter through reservations.
If the state had been successful in delivering high quality education and full employment, would the problem have arisen? Everyone would have been meritorious and would have had jobs. The situation has become more desperate since the market based policies have led to decline in employment generation and led to the deterioration of public institutions of higher learning. Today, the Communist governments are openly seeking foreign capital which has little to do with the poor and can only worsen their situation through reduction in employment. The Lohiaite CMs are seeking the blessings of the big industrialists and making them the members of their development boards. Would such people serve the interest of the deprived? Media is projecting the image of the successful as those with pots of money. Then we ask the students to sacrifice. Can the policy makers and the elite begin to look beyond their noses?
The failure of the state and of the legislators from the deprived sections has been that they have not been able to ensure either good quality education or jobs. Have the latter worked systematically for Right to Employment or full literary? They have not protested the mockery of education through Sarva Shiksh Abhiyan, paying teachers Rs. 750 per month (below poverty level income). Who would be genuinely prepared to teach at that income? Surveys reveal that our children from deprived areas are not able to acquire the basic skills needed. They have not protested the growing corruption which undermines all development. They have not only not launched a campaign against corruption but have indulged in it. Elite sections not doing any of this is understandable but why the creamy layer created by the reservations? Clearly, the latter is coopted and hardly interested in social reform.
Different Forms of Reservations
This is not to deny that in our society we do not have reservations by various means. When we set up full paying courses, we are reserving by money. When the son of an industrialist inherits the management of the company that is also reservation. We are not going by talent or merit in these instances. This draws little protest since all of us have accepted private property as a rule and with market based policies dominating we have accepted that those with money have special privileges.
The question is how is merit defined? By the market. Yes, indigenous people have tremendous knowledge and corresponding skills but these are not valued in the market hence not counted as merit in the market. Skills are valued in the market and called merit but these are not necessarily based on social needs. Selling oil in ITC or toiletries in Hind Lever is paid far more so considered more desirable than being a teacher or a doctor in the villages. So the former is supposed to be more skilled than the latter so that the good students go for that. Why are the best students going for IIT or IIM? Because this is a passport to such high paying jobs or for going abroad again at high salaries. Is talent not being wasted in the process? What good is such merit if talent is only going to be wasted as far as society is concerned. It is equally true that in today’s market milieu, the students who come through reservations will adopt the same strategy as the general category students. They will not further the indigenous knowledge or serve in the villages and therefore also not serve the social purpose – they want a passport to a good life; a slice of the cake.
There is a legitimate argument for merit and skills in a complex and rapidly changing world. The anti-reservationists argument for merit is all too easily brushed aside by the pro resevationists. Many jobs are highly skilled all over the world and those lacking adequate skills cannot cope with them. Can it be denied that doctors have to be highly skilled or that space scientists or teachers have to be of the highest quality for new knowledge to be generated? Otherwise, we would further lag behind the rest of the world. Knowledge is built up, layer upon layer. Weaknesses in earlier stages result in continuing weakness. It is also true that skills and merit are not inherent or genetically determined but often are acquired due to opportunities, training and practice and in this the upper castes have clearly had a huge advantage.
Mrs. Gandhi’s political skills were honed by being in close proximity to power at the top. Many children of businessmen pick up skills of business through contact and work experience. This is denied to even the very best minds of the under privileged (including those from the upper castes). The elite classes, including the creamy layer from the deprived sections also win in the current system. The latter have a disproportionate amount of opportunity since they have limited competition - a fraction of the community has the entire community’s quota. Often they have even more opportunities than the upper caste students.
Are those against merit going to argue that they would give up merit in selection amongst those to be taken under the reservation quota? Will those taken under quota be selected by lottery, irrespective of their ranking because merit does not matter? Why is there pass or fail or grades or marks in exams? They represent different level of skills amongst the students. It is another matter that the exam system is imperfect and there are different kinds of knowledge and skills that the exam system does not represent. Are we asking for a radical reform of the system itself, including the examination system? But, as long as we live by the system, there is a difference in the level of skills amongst different students and those with the best skills need to be selected for jobs requiring high degree of skill. If merit is defined by the markets, giving up merit also means giving up the market.
In brief, merit and skills are important in many jobs relating to knowledge generation and perhaps not in selling oil or toiletries. Some of these skills can be acquired through training and opportunity which the poor do not get. To that extent reservations in certain course (like, management or administration) provide opportunities but the argument would not hold where high level of skills are required (like in medicine and R&D). Merit and skill should be delinked from salaries and there is a need for a national incomes policy to channel talent to social purposes and not into selling tobacco or moving funds around.
Our Formalistic Politics
Today, our political processes throw up formalistic solutions for short term gains. Where are the tall leaders who can stand up against this trend and work for building a different kind of politics? Today, no political party can stand up and say yes we made mistakes in the past and we will not give in to the vote bank politics. If reservation for the backward castes were a genuine move perhaps no one would have minded. What worries many is that it will be one more nail in the coffin of the task of nation building and eliminating the caste system. It would become a vested interest of some to continue to be categorized as backward. Just as today it is impossible to vote in Parliament against reservations, it will be even more difficult tomorrow to vote for its elimination. No one would even moot such a proposal.
Now there is talk of immediately expanding the number of seats for the general category students. Firstly, no one believes this is going to happen since such things have not happened in the past. Imagine the fuss when there is talk of raising the education budget to 6% of GDP or giving subsidies to the poor. Second, even if there exists the will to raise the expenditures it would still be impossible to expand higher education by 50% in a few years. One may also ask why the government has suddenly woken up to the idea of the need to expand higher education in the public sector. It has been arguing against this all the while on the plea of resources and dilution of quality, etc. Now it is waiving a magic wand and saying all would be well.
Expansion of higher education is a structural matter and not a matter of fiat. It is the quality that matters and not just numbers. One good lecture is better than hundred insipid lectures; actually they would put students off from learning. No wonder there is absenteeism of teachers and students from the classes. Universities and Colleges work like offices; nine to five. Today there is an acute shortage of good teachers because of the operation of the market mechanism. The salaries of College teachers do not compare favourably with those of other comparable jobs. Further they have few promotional avenues. How are we suddenly going to attract fresh talent given that with what is available, we are unable to fill vacancies in engineering and Medical colleges?
It is a chicken and egg problem. Given the status of teachers, good students do not enroll for Ph.D. except by accident. This is the situation in institutions, like, JNU. Thus, we are producing few good teachers and researchers. Hence the quality of teaching is suffering. In good institutions like the IITs or the IIMs, the students are inherently so good that the quality of teaching is more or less immaterial. Can this continue with reservations? Firstly, where are the 50% extra teachers? There are not even the teachers to fill the existing 20 – 30% vacancies. Yes, the undergraduate labs can be replicated with money but the teachers cannot be created overnight. Classrooms will get crowded and those admitted under the reserved category who would need extra help will flounder. They will be angry and insecure.
If justice is to be done to the students admitted under reservation, then much more than 50% expansion of faculty will be needed to help them. Another possibility is that teaching will be done at the expense of research so the long term standing of the institutions will decline. Finally, to attract talent, salaries of faculty will have to be at least trebled to match those in the corporate sector or to attract talent from abroad. The resources required would be a multiple of those estimated. Since none of this is likely, standards will decline and we will run down some of the better institutions and then end up creating other institutions at huge expense. Can we replicate good institutions like the IITs? With difficulty, since institutions are not just buildings and labs but also the human content and traditions.
Who amongst the backward castes would come to take the quota seats in elite institutions? Quite clearly, not the most deprived who are very poor and most of whose children drop out of school. Their families need them to work to earn and supplement family income. There are perhaps 20 million child workers. Further, a large number of these children are malnourished or they have learning deficiencies due to malnourishment of the mothers. They cannot even complete school much less go to College. Very few have the staying power to go to College and they are of course from the creamy layer. So reservation in higher education for the backward castes will be cornered by the creamy layer. Do these people need affirmative action like in JNU or reservation?
JNU Formula for Affirmative Action
There are some who talk of the success of the reservation formula in JNU. As they say, `Andhon me Kana Raja’ (the one eyed is the king amongst the blind). Yes, JNU is different and perhaps the most progressive institution of higher learning in the country. We have been giving points to those with a variety of backwardness. But if one asks how successful has it been, to be honest, not much. Most of the Dalit students are struggling in the class and suffer from social problems. We believe in formalism. Fulfill the quota and throw them in at the deep end. We hardly provide them with remedial help to overcome their handicap. Many do not come forward to take advantage of the remedial courses for fear of being labeled as weak. Mind you this is also the case with other students from backward areas not just those who are Dalits or backward. Finally, in today’s corrupt society, it is easy to get false certificates and no educational institution has the capacity to check all this. JNU experiment shows that the best of ideas do not get implemented the way they should because of inadequate commitment and belief in symbolisms.
Why has the problem arisen now?
The problem of reservation has slowly become acute since there is a growing crisis of unemployment. Out of the 9 million children joining the job market annually, hardly 2% of them will get the desired organized sector jobs paying well to enable them to afford a good life. The rest will be doomed to low paying unorganized sector jobs. The fight is over these few jobs and hence the need for reservations. The situation has been aggravated by the demonstration effect from the West and growing consumerism. Children brought up on high pressured advertising and Bollywood masala wish to live like their heroes but with little chance of fulfilling these aspirations at the low incomes most of them would be locked into for life. The failure of small business in India is high in today’s competitive world (with China breathing down the necks) so that there is not much prospect of starting own business. There are more than 3 lakh sick small scale units so that few of the poor students dare to start own businesses.
The public sector jobs are declining in numbers so that reservations in jobs has lost its meaning; the private sector does not reserve jobs. If we are to depend on the private sector alone for new jobs for all those coming into the job market, we need to have a different technology and an incomes policy. The market is not going to be an ally in this.
Further, the quality of most of our schools is rather poor specially of most government schools. Then how do students acquire skills. There is need for effective literacy and not just formalistic one. To do well in today’s world, one needs to be able to understand the current technology – even the three R’s are not enough. There is a need to have equally good quality schools for all. This is feasible if we go in for neighbourhood schools for all. But will the elite agree? Regarding higher education, they have actually been arguing against the expansion of the public institutions and suggesting privatization. They have been arguing that its rapid expansion has led to dilution of quality. For them privatization means profits and they wish to have no part of affirmative action. In Delhi, private hospitals were given cheap land on the condition that they would treat poor patients but this has not been practiced.
We have to change this mind set which is letting the public sector whither away even though it is known that the private sector would not cater to the poor. It is often argued that the government does not have the resources. Massive tax concessions are given to the well off sections so that the tax GDP ratio fell after 1990-91 and now the Receipts Budget of the Union Budget 2006-07 has confirmed this by showing that concessions worth Rs. 90,000 crores have been given to the corporate sector. Further the black economy is at least 40% of GDP and the government is losing at least Rs. 4.5 lakh crores of taxes. This is not peanuts. Allowing the black economy to flourish reflects the lack of political will and that is why we have not been able to implement good intentions in the past.
An individual in society has a social contract for life. During the British rule it was weakened but after independence it was revived and democratized. However, the ruling elite of India with its feudal mindset has weakened this social contract over time and specially after 1991. The market has led to its further dissolution. All this has let loose social tensions on a large scale and that is what our politicians are trying to exploit in a negative sense. There is a need to revive this democratic social contract to resolve our problems – employment, education, health, housing must be available to all.
Conclusion
Perhaps it was naïve to think that reservations would quickly dissolve exploitative caste divisions. It is not caste that matters but the discrimination associated with it. But did we do enough to change things? The failure of the state has been an important reason for the continuation of deprivation and poverty and the pressure for reservations. Today, we cannot ignore the argument for equity and social justice since it is still compelling. But horizontal equity requires that the creamy layer should volunteer to be excluded. The issues raised by the anti-reservationists need to be addressed if we want workable affirmative action. There is merit in arguments from both sides and it is not easy to steer a middle path since there is also lack of trust (leading to impasse) amongst different sections given that the issue is seen in narrow political terms.
We need to ask whether all the backward castes are so deprived that they need to be given reservation and nothing less? Can it be something less, like, a handicap in admission and that too to select backward castes? Would not that serve the purpose of equity much better? Has the status of some castes not improved greatly in the last 55 years? Why the admitted backwardness of the Muslims and women is not a reason to extend reservations to them also? Why not review the entire issue of reservation afresh and have a uniform well defined non-partisan policy. There should also be constitutional guarantees regarding expenditures and other such support to policy. If the government can have an FRBM for fiscal responsibility why not a social responsibility bill spelling out definite goals? We have to rise above formalistic policies and give them real content.
Today, the real problems are being ignored – right to work for all and high quality education to all, to not only give equal opportunity to all children but to make every child meritorious. The really deprived drop out of schools and do not get to higher education. Today the fight is over a small and shrinking pie – formalistic solutions are being attempted which can only worsen the situation with regard to caste consolidation. There is also need for an incomes policy which is difficult to implement at the best of times.
The argument about resource shortage has been proved to be a red herring since the government is now willing to find an additional Rs 8,000 crores which till now it said was not available. The blame for the failure of reservations has to be borne by the ruling elite including the creamy layer Dalits and the backwards whose consciousness has not broadened. Since they have been in substantial numbers in the Parliament and the legislatures for a long time they could have initiated moves for basic changes. Instead, they have chosen to be coopted into the ruling classes.
All groups now understand the political message of how to get to power in the short run; nation building is secondary. That is why the problem today is intractable. There is no doubt that there are vast numbers of under privileged in our society and they need to be helped to come up but no one is willing to sacrifice because in today’s India, with market as god, no one does, not even the creamy layer. Dramatic expansion in public sector higher education is a proposition which is unlikely to be realized – in quantity or quality terms. Some say that given the present political structures, reservations is the only way to eliminate the caste system. It is argued here that as it is structured at present, it would not do so.
In brief, because of our past failures, political compulsions of the ruling elite and narrowness of thought, today we cannot escape the argument for equity even if reservations have not served their purpose but we can be sure that if horizontal equity is not respected we can only aggravate the situation further by consolidating caste in its negative sense.
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