Let's talk about reservations
- Saniya Mirza
- Aug 31, 2021
- 9 min read
The reservation debate has been a very controversial one for decades, right from when it was first introduced during the making of the constitution. It has cropped up several times since then, as various governments in power have tried to amend laws about it. I believe reservations are needed in our country, but some changes are required to make this system efficient. Now, I'm just an amateur with some opinions, and I merely want to discuss some of my views about the basic history of why reservations were brought in and how it is still necessary for our country. I believe a healthy discussion on big matters is always a good way of arriving at agreeable conclusions, which is why it is so important that we all keep an open mind and try to view things from different perspectives. So, here's mine.
But before we dive into opinions, here's a small introduction to get some idea of things if you do not happen to know already.
"What is the reservation system in India?"
Reservation is a system of affirmative action in India that provides historically disadvantaged groups representation in education, employment and politics. Based on provisions in the Indian Constitution, it allows the Indian government to set reserved quotas or seats, which lower the qualifications needed in exams, job openings etc. for socially and economically backward citizens from the Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC).*[1]
● Scheduled Castes are sub-communities within the framework of the Hindu caste system who have historically faced deprivation, oppression, and extreme social isolation in India on account of their perceived 'low status'.This caste system forced these communities into work that predominantly involved sanitation, manual scavenging, animal carcasses disposal, excreta cleaning, and other tasks involving contact with unclean materials. They were called the Avarna communities, who adopted the name Dalit or Harijan- 'the children of God'. The people of this community were the ones who were treated as 'untouchable' before the independence of India.
● Scheduled Tribes are communities that have been marginalised due to geographical isolation. This does not have anything to do with the Hindu Caste system. There are over 700 Scheduled Tribes in India, according to The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes. The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes explains that the Scheduled Tribes can be distinguished from the rest of the communities due to their social, economic & educational backwardness, geographical isolation, and primitiveness.
● Communities that have been historically marginalized in India continue to face oppression and social, economic, and educational isolation but do not fall into the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes list, fall into the Other Backward Classes category. The Mandal Commission was set out to measure backwardness based on these criteria. In 1980, it was estimated that nearly 52% of India's population fell under the Other Backward Class category.
According to the Mandal Commission's recommendations and subsequent decisions from the Supreme Court, the total percentage of reserved seats in state-funded educational institutions and government jobs amounts to 49%, out of which 22% is for SC & ST and 27% for OBC-Non Creamy Layer (NCL).
The Creamy Layer refers to people belonging to OBC that have an annual income above 8 lakhs. They are not eligible for the benefits of reservations. Only people from the Non-Creamy Layer are. *[2]
"Why was the concept of reservation even introduced?"
75 years ago, when casteism was blatantly practised, untouchability was a norm that had to be legally removed. Communalism was a major problem. The only way to ensure that people of all communities received a fair representation in our government and a fair chance to uplift themselves in society through education and jobs was to reserve seats for them so that no personal biases in authorities of such organizations could have a say about it.
Reservations were introduced to give people of supposed 'lower castes' and what is referred to as 'backward classes' a chance. This refers to people belonging to communities facing a history of oppression solely because of a cruel system designed to benefit some sections of society. Realistically, had Dr. B.R Ambedkar not stood firm on his demand for reservations, would people from these communities ever have gotten a fair chance?
Okay, so opinion time. 👀
"Is reservation still needed?"
Our country has a dark history when it comes to casteism. In fact, it is quite out in the open that casteism still exists, but people (a vast population) want to pretend it's not there. For those who think so, ask yourself why an international hockey player Vandana Katariya was abused with casteist slurs when her team lost in the semi-finals in this year's Tokyo Olympics? Why were PV Sindhu and Lovlina Borgohain's caste and religious status trending in Google after their wins in the Olympics? *[3]
For a proper and sad reality check, take a look at all the honor killings, sexual assaults, murders, and lynchings reported in so many parts of the country to this day, and ask yourself, do you think India is free of casteism? The political representation of people belonging to all castes is essential for the survival of peace, harmony, and democracy in India, and reservation plays a huge role.
If crimes of this extent can occur, what makes us think that, somewhere in our country, people aren't being denied opportunities due to their caste? Look around and assess the organizations that we have come across in our lives. How many schools/colleges do we know of where the population of students belonging to minority communities is perfectly equal to the number of seats reserved for them or even lesser? How many schools have we come across where the management has a very casteist mindset, of which students themselves can give testimony? I'm sure a few names would come to mind.
Not so fun fact: According to a report in The Times of India in 2015, out of the 27% that is reserved for OBC-NCL in government ministries, statutory bodies, and departments, the actual number of OBC employees stands at under 12%. This amounts to about 9040 employees out of 79,483 posts.
Anyone that says, India doesn't need reservations anymore, is either living under a misinformed delusion or is outright advocating for injustice.
Over the years, a varying percentage of people belonging to the SC and ST communities have risen in some ways, gaining opportunities and education, and good financial status. However, these developments brought reservations under scrutiny again.
"Is it fair for financially well-off people of said communities to get reservations?"
Reservations are not meant to work as scholarships. This is not just about whether they have the money to pay for their education. It is about guaranteeing their representation in the specified domains.
It may be the case that money can get people into the places they want, but the cultural bias that exists in our country can never be ignored. There have been many instances of Dalits facing discrimination and injustice even when they are educated, successful, and financially stable. *[4] Moreover, there are enough powerful people in powerful positions that can throw their money and catch a hold over organizations they want, and if such people are casteist, then no matter how rich or well-off a person of SC/ST is, they can still be mistreated. Reservations, in every regard, is a matter of social justice.
"But are these reservations actually benefitting their recipients?"
Honestly, I would say yes and a little bit no.
Yes, it gives people opportunities that could have otherwise been denied by guaranteeing a percentage of seats for them in government jobs and schools and lowering the cut-off marks for them in competitive government exams, for example, NEET. But as much as I believe that marks do not define a person's intellect, some fields like medicine require extreme precision learning, and exams like NEET test their capacity to learn like that.
Continuing with this example, medical professors over the years have remarked that some of the students that enter with lower cut-offs have had a hard time coping with the curriculum demands of the course. And that this produces doctors of less merit, thereby not improving our healthcare system. *[5] The first part is true, in some cases, due to which I understand that the lowering of cut-off marks is not the right way to go about it. But the latter part, I can't entirely agree. Once a person has taken admission into any UG course, it doesn't matter if they have come through reservations or not, they have to go through the same course, same practicals, same workload. There is no special quota that will help them here. So their passing and achieving high merit is dependent on their efforts and intellect. Hence, the ones who work through all that and pass everything are just as good doctors as any other general category student. The ones who aren't able to cope up tend to drop out.
The fact that reservation students do get admissions with lower mark requirements fuels a lot of unnecessary conflicts with people of the general category who feel it is unfair that they do not get UG/PG admissions because the seats went to reserved candidates who scored lesser than them. And in this aspect, maybe their feeling is justified, but this anger should not be directed towards those students or reservation on the whole. If such feelings are left unchecked, they can turn into bigotry. Instead, one should realize that the lower cut-off is set for them because of the disadvantages they face in every aspect of life, including our primary and secondary education system.
In UG courses, one can only suggest a reservation method by holding the same cut-off range for reserved seats and general category seats (or a slightly lesser range) if the education system that both these categories have gone through is equally good. A privileged student has the opportunity to learn at a good English-medium school and attend extra coaching to pass competitive exams, but what about the underprivileged ones? It is a matter of fact that majority of SC, ST, and OBC candidates are not that privileged. If you demand reservations that do not compromise merit, you must also demand resources that can help produce such merit in those that do not stand much of a chance if such a system was implemented. This way, merit will not be compromised in the quest for fair opportunities, and opportunities will not be restricted to only those who were born upper caste/rich. But for this to work, a lot of time and resources are required to uplift the SC/ST/OBC communities educationally, socially, and economically. Reservation will only be perfectly efficient when combined with such resources. Otherwise, we have what we have.
That being said, I feel that reservations that lower the cut-off in PG courses are not required. The seats may be reserved but the cut-off should remain as high as for the general category. Seeing how students have received the benefit of reservations in their UG already, it seems fair that they try to achieve the required level of merit to proceed further.
Nevertheless, in reality, many reserved PG seats go empty every year even after the cut-off is reduced for them. Imagine their plight if there aren't even enough people reaching the low cut-off? It so happens that people qualified for reservation who score high enough to enter through the general cut-off can enter these courses without reservation. In contrast, people of the GC cannot take the reserved seats at all, thus leaving those seats wasted. In this sense, the general category students feel like their opportunities are being stolen.
In case all seats do get filled, I would like to point out that the lack of seats for GC admission does not warrant hate towards the concept of reservation or their candidates. They are not stealing seats from those of the general category. They have a right to it. The unreserved seats are up for open competition based on merit. So if a person that can be qualified for reservation takes a seat via the unreserved route, and actually gets the seat, doesn't that mean that this student got in through merit? If you look without the bias, they are actually giving a chance for a less privileged student to take the reserved seat. If the whole argument was that reservation candidates aren't worthy of seats because they don't possess the merit for it, why is there a problem with those who entered through their marks?
However, I recognize that it is unfair to students of the general category not to get admissions while reserved seats go empty. Therefore, I think there should be an extended deadline to fill up all the reserved seats. If the seats do not get filled within the set date, those seats should be made available for open competition. This way, no one loses.
The main problem in India is not the availability of seats for the GC, but the existence of seats in the entire country for students to even compete for. As of 2020, there were only 84,649 medical UG seats and 54,275 PG seats in India. *[6] Compare that with the 13 lakh students that appeared for NEET and the 7.7 lakh students that cleared it. We don't need to be fighting over who has more rights over a seat; we should be demanding for more seats to be created in our country. Our public can get so divided, we forget the issues that we should be united to take a stand for. The reservation debate is one such division tool. The public gets so occupied with pointing fingers that they forget to address the deep underlying issues in the systems linked to it.
I realise I have barely scratched the surface in this article, but I'm not here to discuss deep political views in length or offend anyone else's. Instead, I just wanted to, if possible, make someone ask these questions and stipulate some conversations with those around them to see where we stand and how we can do better for everyone, including ourselves.
In the end, we need to remember that the flaws in the system of reservations should not be used as an excuse to deconstruct the importance of the system on the whole. What reservations have done in the last 75 years has changed the lives of millions of people in our country. And that is an incredible feat.
By Saniya Mirza
Editor: Aasia
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