Reservation

History Of Reservation

According to historical background, the main reason for reservation in INDIA is Casteism.

It’s not new in India, these reservations concepts are ancient, we can read about this in ancient books like
MANUSMRITI.

Manusmriti and other Hindu literature classified the society in principle into four varnas:

 the Brahmins: priests, scholars and teachers.

 the Kshatriyas: rulers, warriors and administrators.
 the Vaishyas: merchants.
 the Shudras: laborers and service providers.
This classification was also one kind of reservation where some people were given every facilities and
allowed every privileges while some others where denied almost everything. This lead to Casteism ,
which is now deep in our roots. People were not ready to compromise on anything related to caste. They
were even not sitting together. Therefore some sections of society degraded to lowest living standards
while some sections became very prosperous. As the time changes the form of reservation has only
change. As India gain freedom few policies were made for the uplifting of backward classes people.
These policies due to Casteism became politically controversial topics and never left our system because
we are still stick to CASTE.

In 1932, Ramsay Macdonald introduced the concept of Communal Award- which is basically creating
separate constituencies for Sikhs, Anglo-Indians, Muslims, Dalits, Christians ( in short- minorities who
were underrepresented in government spheres) so that they can compete and win elections and thereby
contribute their bit in the progress of their castes/ communities. This was the base set for reservation.

Communal Award was welcomed by Dalit icon Ambedkar, but was rejected by Gandhi as he felt it would
create ripples within the Hindu society . Mahatma fasted in Yerwada Jail, Pune against this. Finally,
Ambedkar signed the Poona Pact, which guarantees the reservation of separate Constituencies for
Dalits(in the Hindu Caste system).
This was extrapolated by the Indian National Congress once we achieved Freedom. And thereby drafted
the Constitutional articles- 15, 16 and 46 which states that its the solemn duty of the government / State to
take care of the social, educational and economic interests of socially, economically and educationally
backward communities like Dalits and Tribals.

But protests and demands for equal representation in government jobs and academic spheres were present
long before this. And the idea of reservation existed long before the 20th Century. Following were some
of those instances.

1. Hunter Commission- 1882 : In 1882, Jyothiram Phule, social reformer from Maharashtra,
demanded that free compulsory education be extended for all kids- including that of lower-
castes. To look into the educational requirements of illiterate kids, the Hunter Commission was
set up by Lord Ripon under William Hunter. Read more- http://www.gktoday.in/hunter-edu...
2. Ezhava Memorial- 1896 : In 1896, the Ezhava community submitted a petition to the Maharaja
of Travancore , Kerala to demand equal representation as enjoyed by Kerala Christians. Read
more RENAISSANCE IN KERALA :Struggles and Social Revolts : KERALA PSC NOTES.
3. Kohlapur- 1901: In the Princely state of Kohlapur, reservation were introduced by Chatrapati
Sahuji Maharaj, in favour of non- Brahmin and other backward castes(OBCs).
The demand for reservation for backward castes has been continuing for more than a century. After the
Poona Pact was signed, creating a separate set of constituencies for Dalits from the main set, reservations
were introduced in education and government jobs.

Post Independence, in 1992, V.P Singh made another amendment that 27% would further be set aside for
OBCs. apart from the 22.5% set aside for SC/STs. Thus we have nearly 50% reservation in India( at
Central level). At this point Supreme Court intervened and said that the reservation percentage ( aka
special provisions) should not exceed the cap of 50%. Individual states can have different percentages
based on their demographics though.

Criteria other than caste:

Other than caste, there are more ways by which reservation is given in India.

1. Women's Reservation Bill was passed in Rajya Sabha in 2010 to carve out 33% for women in
government jobs as they were under-represented there.
2. Migrants like Kashmiri Migrants and other localized tribes have special quotas.
3. Physically handicapped persons have also special provisions.
4. Sons/daughters/grandsons/granddaughters of Freedom Fighters
5. Sports personalities
6. NRI quotas.

Points In Favor (For) Of Reservation

1. Most of the Government Jobs in India are divided into 4 categories: Group A, Group B, Group C and
Group D. Class A employees take up 2.2% of the public sector workforce, Class B employees take
up 3.3%, Class C employees take up 66.8% and Class D employees take up 27.2% of the public
sector workforce. Over the years the representation of SC has increased significantly in all those four
type of government jobs which is a promising sign.

From the time Reservation was introduced in India, there has been increase in participation of people
from SC/ST community

2. Enrollment of SC and ST has increased in undergraduate, post-graduate, technical and professional

courses. Percentage of enrollment of SC in these categories was 7.08% in 1978-79 which increased
to 13.30% in 1995-96.
 Representation of Students from SC/ST communities have doubled due to introduction of
reservation in universities.

3. Percentage of depressed class living below poverty line was 51.32% in 1978-79 which was reduced
to 35.97% in 1993-94. Although it was still above the national poverty average.
4. A case study done by Andhra Pradesh Government showed that more than 10% of backward classes
have been admitted in the open competition quota, apart from the 25% in reserved quota. This shows
that the backward classes are competing by merit in open competitions.
5. An analysis of the number of students applying for Scholarships & Reimbursement of tuition fee
shows that there is an increase of percentage of applications on average. This means there is an
increase in poor BC students opting for higher studies.
 A study conducted on Indian Railways showed that there is no fall in overall productivity when
reservation is introduced.

6. In 13th Lok Sabha there were 79 seats reserved but there were 81 SC representatives in the house.
Though the number was very small but it is a promising result that now SC are elected even from
seats which were not reserved.
7. Reservation allows the backward classes a chance of improving their lives and status in society
and getting meaningful employment.

8. Backward classes also get representation in various aspects of society and decision making,
something that has been denied to them for a long time.

Points Against Reservation

Reservation has been criticized by various groups and people (usually from General Category) from
time to time. The main reason given by these groups is that reservation was intended for 10 years
only and now it has been 70 years since the policy was implemented. Instead of scrapping the
reservations the government is increasing it through various amendments.
1. Many people say that reservation is against the constitution of India which says “No discrimination
on the basis of caste, religion or sex”, but in India reservation is provided on all of these basis.
Second, reservation in India has now shifted from a policy of upliftment to a vote bank politics and
no one wants to lose this opportunity. It is to be noted that in 1950’s a person of SC/ST community
who benefited from reservation, it would be their 5th generation taking the advantage of same
reservation system in 2015.

2. National Survey showed that “In India only 0.7% of scholarships are provided on the basis of
merit. Most of the scholarships or aid is available only for OBC, SC, ST, Women, Minorities &
Muslims”. This hampers the growth of aspiring students from upward caste who are financially
weaker.
 A research done by Rediff Labs shows that only .7% students in India get scholarship on the basis of
Merit.

3. The seats reserved for SC/ST are not utilized in the manner it should be and most of the reserved
seats are generally grabbed by privileged SC/ST students, making it difficult for poor SC/ST
students to benefit from reservation. As a result, scholars such as Oliver Mendelsohn,
Sachchidananda, and G. Narayana have brought to light the emergence of a “Harijan Elite,” who are
gradually moving farther and farther away—politically, socially, and economically, from the rest of
the SC population.
4. Un-employment in India has increased from the time India gained its independent. In 1951, 3.29
lakh educated people were unemployed and has increased to 300 lakhs in 2010. With successive
increase in percentage of reservation, dissatisfaction among unemployed youth has increased. Also
various state governments have tried to increase the reservation beyond 50% which is seen as an
injustice by the today’s youth. There have been many demonstrations against reservation. In 1990’s
two students, Rajiv Goswamiand Surinder Singh Chauhan committed self-immolation in protest of
Mandal Commission.
5. There is no information about the number of people belonging to the OBCs category who occupy
positions in the state governments. Also no data has been provided by state governments to evaluate
the effectiveness of OBC reservation and still the reservation cap has been increased. Similarly the
data for SC & ST are obtained from the reports provided by National Commission for Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes. It is to be noted that the Commission is composed of SC politicians, it
has been alleged that assessments may be biased.
6. Successive governments have used reservation as a “Lollipop” to lure the general public but the
reservation has not yet reached to the very deprived section of society living in remote areas. Also
there has been decrease in women literacy from SC community. The literacy gap for women has
widened from 9.66 percent in 1961 to 15.53 percent in 1991.
7. There have been protests by the people from SC, ST and OBC communities who were not benefited
properly from the current reservation system and they demand a separate quota within the SC/ST
quota. The conflict of Mala and Madiga Caste in Andhra Pradesh and Gurjjar Agitation in Rajasthan
are the best examples.

SC/ST people belonging from Urban area usually Grabs the advantage of reservation and it has
created a Gap between people of same backward community.

8. It is going to kill meritocracy, and hence will destroy India's growing image as a technology hub.
9. It is dividing India into caste lines which our freedom fighters and social reformers fought so hard
to eliminate.
10. It is against the fundamental right to equality as safeguarded by the Constitution of India.
11. The benefits of reservation have been denied to really deserving people by the rich and powerful
in their own classes.
12. Reservation is just a populist measure used by politicians for electoral gains.
13. As a consequence of legislating to provide reservations on the basis of religion, religious minorities
in all government education institutions will be introduced which is contrary to the ideas of
secularism, and is a form of anti-discrimination on the basis of religion.
14. Most of the times, only economically sound people from the so-called lower castes will make use
of most of the reserved seats, thus counteracting the spirit of reservations.
15. The quality of the elite institutes may go down, because merit is severely being compromised by
reserving seats for certain caste-based communities.
16. The reservation policy is creating huge unrest in the society. Providing quotas on the basis of caste
and not on the basis of merit will deter the determination of many educated and deserving students
of India.