Reservation Is A Means For Empowerment

By Fr. G. Cosmon Arokiaraj
New Delhi, Nov. 01, 2006 (CBCI News):

Amidst the row on increasing reservation in educational institutions, in the context of Ranganath Misra commission finalizing its report and Dalit Christians campaigning for their equal rights, the Supreme Court has attempted to balance equality of opportunity with the quest for social justice by the excluded groups in the Indian society.

Allowing reservation in promotion for SC/ST communities, the court said that the state has to justify that the SC/STs are not adequately represented and that the administrative efficiency is not adversely affected.

The Court said – the creamy layer of well-off people among SC/ST/OBCs should not benefit from quotas in jobs and education. It further emphasized that reservations should not exceed 50 per cent.

Reflecting on these recent developments, let me outline the following points for further discussion and action:

v Reservations have done much good and provided employment to SC/ST communities in India. If they are abolished in the present context of intense competition, the condition of SC/ST communities would be worse.

v Education is the means of social empowerment and reservation in the educational institutions has helped those in the deprived sections of society to have vertical mobility in the social strata.

v Justifying the policy to provide reservation, the Centre has said, “The Centre and various State Governments have found caste, apart from other categories such as disability, to be a reasonable basis for determining who must benefit from reservation. The socially and educational backward castes are therefore universally recognized as being in dire need of reservation to undo centuries of prejudice and inequality.” Hence, one cannot hide the fact that Indian society, including the Indian Church, is a caste-ridden society and there is an urgency to address and eradicate caste prejudices that are operating and re-enacting in various forms in the society.

v First of all, there is a need to find out whether there is a “creamy layer” among SC/ST communities by evaluating the implementation of the Reservation Policy. The opinion that the real needy will benefit only when there is the removal of creamy layer compels the government to make a thorough study on “creamy layer” taking into consideration the various factors that affect the SC/ST population. Can we compare a SC or ST officer in the creamy layer who hails from a landless uneducated family with another non-SC or ST officer in the creamy layer who is from a highly educated land owning family? How can we respond to the caste prejudices that are prevailing in the higher institutions of learning? One cannot forget the fact that almost everyday, the news papers carry the incidents of atrocities perpetrated on SCs and STs, from higher centers of learning to remote villages.

v Likewise, a proper study has to be done as to how promotion rules were really operating and whether efficiency had in any manner suffered. Efficiency is not reserved for upper castes alone.

v The Christians of Scheduled Caste origin (Dalit Christians) have been struggling for more than fifty years to get equal rights. Various studies have proved that conversion to Christianity has not altered the social economical status of the converted Christians. Because they are Christians, they are not spared in communal violence and abuses of upper and dominant caste communities. Nor are they treated equally by the upper caste Christians.

v The Dalit Christians, though they are Dalits, are deprived of civil and legal safeguards and protection that is provided for Hindu Dalits under the Protection of Civil Rights Act 1976, Untouchability (Offenses) Act 1955 and SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989. Thus they stand vulnerable to the abuses and attacks of the dominant castes, without any possibility of legal redressal.

v Besides, the Government has already amended the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order) 1950 twice: first, in 1956 to include Dalit Sikhs and next in 1990 to include Dalit Buddhists in the Scheduled Castes. The Government did already think over the demand of the Dalit Christians and prepared the draft amendment bill in 1996. The Statement of Objects and Reasons of Bill NO.17 of 1996 says:

“Converts to the Christian religion who are of the Scheduled Castes origin are precluded from the statutory benefits and safeguards accruing to members of the Scheduled Castes. Demands have been made from time to time for extending these benefits and safeguards to the Christians of the Scheduled Castes origin by granting them recognition as the Scheduled Castes on the ground that the change of religion has not altered their social and economic conditions. Upon due consideration of these demands, it is proposed to amend the relevant Constitution (Scheduled Cates) Orders to include the Christian converts from the Scheduled Castes as the Scheduled Castes therein. Hence the Bill.”

It is clear from the above statement that the government is asserting that the ‘change of religion has not altered social and economic conditions’ and that it has ‘duly considered the demand and proposed to amend the Order’ and the statement holds good even now when the caste violence is so open and the number is on the increase.

It is good to recall the promise made in the Election manifesto 2004 by the Congress Party: “The Congress believes in affirmative action for all religious and linguistic minorities…The Congress is committed to adopting this policy for socially and educationally backward sections among Muslims and other religious minorities on a national scale. The Congress also pledges to extend reservations for the economically deprived persons belonging to communities that are at present not entitled to such reservations.” As the winter session of the Parliament is fast approaching, the Christians of the Scheduled Caste origin hope that the UPA government headed by Congress would reintroduce the amendment bill in the parliament.

Reservation policy is one of the essential means to include the excluded groups in the democratic process and to pave the way for their empowerment. It is a way to realize social justice in Indian society marred with historical exclusion of groups and social inequalities. Any attempt to dismantle the Reservation policy would result in social disharmony and social instability.

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[Fr. G. Cosmon Arokiaraj, Executive Secretary, CBCI Commission for SC/ST/BC, CBCI Centre, 1 Ashok Place, New Delhi-110 001. E-mail: cbciscst@gmail.com]