One of the biggest affirmative action of the twentieth century- whether it changed the lives of majority.
Society in Indian context has largely been divided by caste and even the profession of an individual used to be generally determined by the caste, in which he was born. The system perhaps continued (still relevant at some places) for thousands of years and people were subjected to sheer discrimination politically, socially as well economically. There was always a need for the policy that can do away the discrimination. Over the time actions were taken to allay the concernes of discrimanted. In India, it was recognised that Untouchables and the lower caste needed to receive special attention for an Indian sense of nationality. Affirmative action in India in modern times can be traced to the beginning of twentieth century under the British rule. Arjan De Han of International Development Research Centre-IDRC pointed out that the caste system was introduced in public policy and bureaucratic languages following 1871 census and became the language of affirmative action in the late and post colonial period. The political scene in India changed radically with the end of the British rule and the emergence of India as a politically independent entity. The use of reservation as an instrument of affirmative action- preferential treatment for the depressed, an attempt by the British brought a positive and a suspicious side to it. As Arvind Sharma, the Birks professor of comaparative religion at Mcgil University writes that the suspicions pertained to the alleged imperial disposition of any empire to divide and rule; the positive aspect consisted of the fact that, irrespective of the motives, the policies did promote the interests of the people at lower rung. The preamble of the constitution places enormous emphasis on justice and, liberty and equality; all of which resonate positively with a regime which emphasizes the well beings of disadvantaged groups and it set out to provide ..JUSTICE, social, economic and political; among others pledges. The affirmative action programs after independence, particularly implementation of Mandal Commission report and its implication are defining for Indian political and economic discourse. When SCs and STs were given reservations under the program of affirmative action in 1950, it hardly created a ripple. But, when the program for affirmative action under Mandal commission for otherwise backward classes (OBCs) was undertaken in 1990, 40 years later, it unleashed a storm of protest, although it was presented as a logical extension of the same process of affirmative action which had been introduced to alleviate the lots of SCs and STs. The Mandal commission was set up in 1979 by then Janta Party Government with a mandate to ‘identify socially or educationally backward’. BP Mandal, former OBC chief minister of Bihar headed the commission to consider the question of seat reservation and quotas for people to redress cast discrimination and used eleven social, economic and educational indicators to determine backwardness.
After first backward commission under kaka Kalelkar in 1953, it was the second backward commission under Article 340. (Article 340 of the constitution-“The state shall promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker section of the people, and in particular, of the Scheduled castes and of the scheduled tribes, and shall protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation.”) Recommendations of Mandal commission may be summarized as follow-
- Candidates belonging to OBCs recruited on the basis of merit in an open competition should not be adjusted against their reservation quota of 27 per cent.
- The above reservation should also be made applicable to promotion quota at all levels.
- Reservation quota remaining unfilled should be carried forward for a period of three years and deserved thereafter.
- Relaxation in upper age limit for direct recruitment should be extended to the candidates of OBCs in the same manner as done in the case of SCs and STs.
- A roster system for each category of posts should be adopted by the concerned authorities in the same manner as presently done in respect of SC and ST candidates.
The above scheme of reservations in its original format should also be made applicable to all recruitment to public sector understanding both under the central and State Governments, as also to nationalized banks. All universities and affiliated colleges should be covered by the above scheme of reservation. It also gave an estimate that 52 % of Indian population is OBC. Sometimes it was pegged around eighty per cent by other observers. However, NSSO survey in 2007 said 41% population in India is OBC. In any of the cases, majority is OBCs, it is established. Mandal Commission took following economic criteria into account when extending the benefit of reservation to Caste/Classes.
- Castes or classes where the average value of family asses is at least 25 percent below the state average.
- Castes/ classes where the average value of family assets is at least 25 per cent below the state average.
- Castes/classes where the number of families living in kuchcha houses is at least 25 percent above the state average
- Castes or classes where the source of drinking water is beyond half a km for more than 50 percent of the households.
- Castes/classes where the number of households having taken consumption loans is at least 25 percent above the state average.
Despite these economic considerations, the commission argued that caste was still the main indicator of backwardness. It identified on the basis of state surveys as many as 3743 castes which were still backward. These castes were very poor represented in administration, especially at the upper levels. Commission calculated that the OBCs filled only 12.55% of all posts in central government and a mere 4.53% of class 1 job. But it took almost twelve years for the report to become a law. The Mandal commission’s recommendation was placed before the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian Parliament, in 1982.The minister of home affairs created a backward classes’ cell to look into the issues raised by it. This is how matter stood until August 13, 1990, the day on which Prime Minister VP Singh issued a memorandum implementing the recommendation of Mandal commission. While this section was welcomed in some circles, it was opposed by others and there were visible, even massive protest
against it in northern India. Writ petitions were filed against it in the Supreme Court. However, the SC’s decision in 1992 resulted in 27% of civil services positions be reserved for OBCs. Debate and Criticism about the time of implementation and aftermath The critique said that electoral compulsion had compelled V.P Singh Government to go for the political gimmick of Mandal commission. Swapan das Gupta put it this way- “At a time when government jobs are at a premium, no political party can realistically afford to convey the impression that it is opposed to the material interests of some 52 per cent of the population”. Like Mr. Devi Lal whose misgivings over the Mandal report stemmed from non-inclusion of Jats as backward caste. Moreover since 1977, the backward castes have emerged as a formidable electoral bloc, particularly in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and no party is interested in being dubbed anti-OBC. Even the BJP, elated by the participation of Yadavs and Kurmis in 1990’s Ram Shila pujas is consciously wooing the backward castes and trying to live down its image as the upholder of Brahminical Hinduism. Another section of Critic said that Mandal Commission resorted to the most brazen misinterpretation of history, sociology and above all, the dynamics of popular Hinduism. Another debate that was coming up whether the reservations are the best way of achieving the goal they set out to achieve. Thus anti reservationist argue that ‘caste based reservation strengthen the caste system. An Indian Sociologist, Andre Beittle argued that reservation may not usher in a social revolution in India because reservation doesn’t enlarge the mental horizon, on the other hand pro reservationist argue that casteism of one hue could be fought by casteism of another hue,” a position associated with the name of DevrajUrs. Other main advocates of caste based reservation position have been Ram ManoharLohia, and VP Singh. That debate around the issue gave rise to a new term-“Mandalization”. Post Mandal implementation and its implicit impact on market as well as average living standard Post 1991, it was an era of liberalization with an aim of making the Indian economy market oriented than ever and expanding the role of private and foreign investment. Indian market prior to 1991 was largely based on Nehruvian pattern of development where privatization was not of paramount importance. But now the situations were different.With foreign investment, manufacturing sector grew. Micro and macro level manufacturing was given push in upcoming five-year plans. India needed a strong workforce to work in those factories and firms set up by multinational assistance. That labour force came from the villages. People in large number migrated to cities as agriculture was not enough to fulfill their aspiration. If Mandal report’s calculation of around fifty per cent OBC population is considered true then majority of labour force belonged to this section of people. The success and failure of any economic programme and law is manifestaed in the well being or the quality of the life of the citizens. A more penetrative look in changing market and livelihood condition of the majority (Backward castes as per Mandal report) would better help us to understand the relative link between market forces and Mandal report. The most important indicator to consider is percapita income. Arvind Chaturvedi’s paper in 2002 on Poverty Ratio shows a significant decline and a clear downward trend in poverty levels since 1973-74 because of the resultant of economic reforms and the majority getting benefits. The salary based monthly work in factories and firms raised their purchasing power as consumption increased. Per capita income in 209-2010 nearly got doubled of what it was during nineties. India’s GDP per capita stood at 5238.02 dollar in 2013 whereas it was pegged to be merely 1700 dollars in 1991-92. Also the road linkages of villages with the cities gave an access to good market to small farmers and small time manufacturers who came largely from backward classes. For example, the labourers from Bihar moved to more industrialized states such as Gujarat and Maharashtra. Those workforce was drwn largely from OBC caste- Yadvas and Kurmis. At present, both of them are poltically dominant caste in Bihar. Despite the economic reforms in India, it was Government sector that was still the biggest job provider. Reservation to OBC candidates gave an edge to many of the candidates from the community to reach high offices. Lalu Prasad Yadav who once demanded for 80% reservation for OBCs relates government jobs with power symbol. He believes that reservation would eventually widen the mental horizon of backward people leading to more sustainable growth. His point gets validated as 61st round of NSSO study gives an idea about how OBC section has improved. India average spending among OBCs was Rs. 870 in a month. To some extent, besides SCs, OBCs were more prone towrds growth. At educational front also in the popular mind, the IITs and the IIMs are something of a passport to the new economy as Ramachandra Guha has put it this way- “Entry into one or the other is a virtual guarantee of a handsomely paid job. Generally, the Brahmins and Banias students because of good social conditioning were considered adept at passing the examinations to gain entry in prestigious institutions such as IITs. Scheduled Castes and Tribes already had 22.5% of seats reserved for them. But the OBCs remained at a disadvantage; hence the pressure to reserve seats for them, too. What was crucial here was that the IITs and IIMs were publicly funded institutions; started by the state and kept going by the state. This made it obligatory for the institutions to honour the Constitutional mandate to promote equality of access and opportunity. It was honoured by the judgment of the Supreme Court.” Pre Mandal, as some of the states like Tamil Nadu and Karnataka had already higher reservation for OBCs, their growth story is considered phenomenal. These states performed well than those states where OBCs reservation was taken up later. Tendulkar and Sundaram (2003) attempted to probe the social class which is more beneficiary of reform fruits, if any. They identified SCs and STs more vulnerable groups having incidence of high more poverty levels while the other groups including OBCs experienced decline. Also the empowerment of OBCs at financial front can be gauged from the fact that they are a politically dominant class in India. The elevation of Narendra Modi to center can be taken as a testimony to above facts.
Previously, as K.S. Chalam has shown in his book “caste based reservation and human development in India” that it was ‘Dvijas’ – Brahaman, kshatriyas and Vaishyas who reaped the benefit of Nehruvian program and now it was the turn of otherwise backward classes post Mandal. As Pundits and Kshatriyas were dominat politically, they thrived economically also and similarity can be drawn for OBCs in post Mandal case. But as there is still no concrete study establishing the number of OBCs persons in Government jobs, one will have to rely on independent studies and surveys of NSSO. CONCLUSION: Nevertheless, whatsoever be the political motives behind Mandal Report and its implementation, it certainly tried to give a push to affirmative action plans. However, at the same time, it is equally true that meritocracy suffered in some cases. Also, the sporadic demands by some political parties to implement job reservation in private sector send shudder to business honchos who believe that nothing less than merit deserves a job. The great speed of urbanization, owing to 1991 liberal reforms, has witnessed a rise in cities bloating out of proportion. For example, Delhi now encompasses sixteen districts from three neighbouring states to make National Capital Region. The real estate in these is dominated by OBCs’ business tycoons. And a personal tour to those places, previously places of hamlets, would definitely give an illusion of shining India. But one cannot ignore that distribution of wealth is heavily distorted. Side by side those tall and shiny buildings, one can notice slums. These slums do not host a particular caste, but a home to migrants from each and every castes from far across the rural belts. Any talk in intellectuals’ circle about Mandal would invite a lazy response, but the topic of ‘socially inclusive growth’ would create cacaphony to showcase knowledge. Though the Supreme Court has come up with ‘creamy layer’ adjudication, there can be noticed a mad and ridiculous rush for inclusion in OBC category by different caste leaders. They feel that OBC inclusion would fulfill the aspiration of their people. So one has to still think to deepest to ascertain whether apart from alleviating the majority from their financial lots, the Mandal report has also concretised the concept of perpetual caste system. Bhanu Pratap
STRAIGHT DRIVE 