Supporting Reservation: ‘People for Social Justice'; IIT, Bombay New

I. About us: People for Social Justice, IIT, Bombay

The pro-reservation protest in IIT Bombay was not an organized effort initially. A group of students joined together and decided to voice their support to the reservation policy and opposition to the casteist agitation going on in various parts of the country. Initially we came together to oppose the anti-reservation human chain held in IIT Bombay. Soon we formed a group by the name, People for Social Justice. Some of us were already working on various issues like education of slum children, rehabilitation of people affected by various 'developmental' projects, Dalit rights, gender issues and so on. But these involvements were mostly on an individual level and with other human rights and social justice groups working in various parts of the country.

A more organized effort in support of reservation followed in the form of dharna and a hunger strike. Many news channels came and interviewed us and, as expected, many of them did not air it. Though we ended the dharna and hunger strike soon after the government's decision on 23-05-06, we decided to continue our campaign to make the environment of IIT-B more sensitive towards the issues of caste. A few faculty members invited us for a panel discussion. The panel discussion was attended by a good number of faculty members and students. It was clear from the panel discussion that there was no complete opposition to the policy of reservation. It was clear, quite contrary to media's portrayal, that there was no consensus within the campus community. We also joined in the pro-reservation protest in Hutatma chowk and Azad maidan.

Through a yahoo group we started sharing news and information of interest and began to expand our network within IIT and outside. As individuals from an academic institution engaged in research and learning, we have facts to substantiate our stand that reservations are a necessary step if we aim for an equal and just society.

II. Caste: Still a Reality

A large number of sociological studies and statistics are available to suggest that caste is still a reality in India. For example, the literacy rates for SCs and STs respectively are 37.4 % and 29.6 % as against the general literacy rate of 52.21% according to the 1991 census. There would be similar corresponding figures for such indicators as school drop out rates, infant mortality, and population below poverty line and so on. This shows that inequalities in this country are closely linked with caste.

The representation of the SC/ST/OBC communities in bureaucracy, public sector enterprises, private sector, and institutes of higher education is much below their actual proportions in the general population. For instance, in IIT Chennai, out of the total 420 faculty members, 393 are from upper castes, 25 are from OBCs, 2 from SCs and none from STs. (Economic and Political Weekly, Editorial April 22-28, 2000). This must be viewed in the light of proportion of Upper Castes (17.58%), Hindu and non- Hindu OBC (52%), SCs (15.05%) and STs (7.51%) in the general population excluding the non-Hindu religious communities (7.6%) (Backward Classes Commission Report, First Part, 1980, p. 56). Reservation policy is one of the many ways through which this caste based inequality can be addressed.

III. The arguments which are put forward against the reservation policy are:

1.       “Merit will be compromised”: We begin with the basic assumption that all human beings are born with enormous, if not equal, capacities. There are several studies and research to show that human intelligence is a very dynamic and difficult to measure and near impossible to replicate entity (look at the recent works by Steven Pinker, Roger Penrose). Besides there is no evidence to claim that it is inherited differentially either on the basis of race, gender or class (look at the debate on Bell curve in US). If it is not inherited differentially then why is it that the Brahmans and other upper castes who comprise only 17.58 % of the total population get more than 70-80% of seats in jobs and education, while the remaining 80% manage to get hold of less than 30% of the seats? (IIT Chennai example can be a case in point). This is a de facto reservation operating in their favor.

And if we assume that it is the “ meritorious” who have occupied the best positions in this country all this while, why is it that India was plagued with mediocrity, incompetence, corruption and inefficiency for last 60 years?. It is wrong to blame the lowers castes for these ills which never got the opportunity to perform.

The definition of ‘merit' which is considered in these institutes of higher learning is very narrow. Besides, the literature in sociology, psychology and linguistics has firmly established that such ‘merit' is ‘acquired', rather than ‘inherited' The kind of ‘merit' that is talked about is determined not only by economic but also by socio-cultural background of the concerned individuals. The contemporary sociological literature talks, in addition to economic capital, about the social capital (social network, family background, education etc.) and cultural capital (for ex. fluency in English and articulation, acquired through family and elite schooling and through social capital) that contributes to the acquisition of this ‘merit'. So the social and cultural deprivation of the backward castes and communities is as important as the economic deprivation. This deprivation has been there due to the historical processes of social, cultural and even political exclusion and oppression.

Moreover, in addition to this deprivation many of the lower castes also face caste based ostracism which hinders their acquisition of this ‘merit'. Even today in many Indian villages untouchability is practiced. In many schools Dalit children are not allowed to sit with the upper caste Hindu children, they cannot drink water from the common water-taps.

2.       “Reservations would create caste based divisions” : We say that the caste based divisions and inequalities are already there. So the reservation policy is not creating them out of nowhere. It is not even enhancing these divisions. Instead reservations are one of the ways in which this division can be leveled.

3.       “This is a political game plan of the politicians to gain votes”: We say this is not supported by facts

Constitutional provision for the Backward Classes Commission

The constitution of India, in Article 340 provides directions for constituting a commission to identify the backward castes. These castes would be other than the Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes who were also backward. A commission was constituted under the chairmanship of Kaka Kalelkar in 1953. The committee submitted their report in 1955. But the report was shelved and the recommendations were never implemented. In 1979 another commission was constituted during the Janata government under the chairmanship of B. P. Mandal. The commission went through a rigorous procedure to investigate the matter. It took an entire year to complete the report and come up with the recommendations.

Identification of the OBCs through a rigorous process

Data and information were obtained from a variety of sources such as

Discussion with the academic community, Questionnaires to - State governments, Central ministries, General Public, Voluntary Organisations; Commission's touring, Evidence presented before the commission from a variety of people, Socio-Educational field survey, Caste-studies, Census Data, Village monographs and special reports, Legal and Constitutional Issues etc.

In the Socio-Educational Field Survey eleven objective criteria were used to identify the backward communities.

• Social
• Caste/classes considered as socially backward by others
• Castes/classes which mainly depend on manual labour for their livelihood
• Castes/classes where at least 25% females and 10% males above the state average get married at an age below 17 years in rural areas and at least 10% females and 5% males do so in urban areas
• Castes/classes where participation of females in work is at least 25% above the State average
• Educational
• Castes/classes where the number of children in the age group of 5-15 years who never attended the school is at least 25% above the state average
• castes/classes where the rate of student drop-out in the age group of 5-15 years is at least 25% above the state average
• Castes/Classes amongst whom the proportion of matriculates is at least 25% below the state average

• Economic
• Castes/Classes where the average value of family assets is at least 25% below state average
• Castes/Classes where the number of families living in Kuccha houses is at least 25% above the state average
• Castes/Classes where the source of drinking water is beyond half a kilometer for more than 50% of the households
• Castes/Classes where the number of households having taken consumption loan is at least 25% above the state average
• (Source: Report of the Backward Classes Commission First Part, Vol. 1 & 2, 1980, Government of India)

The social criteria carried 3 points each, the educational criteria carried 2 points each and economic criteria carried 1 point each. The total score is 22 . Those castes and classes, which had a score of 50% or more, were identified as Other Backward Classes.

They were not arbitrarily identified at the whim of some political leaders. The commission identified 3,273 castes as backward. And there were some Brahman castes among them as well. Again the report, which was submitted in 1980, was put to implementation only in 1989 by then Prime Minister V. P. Singh.

93 rd Amendment and reservation in IITs and IIMs

The recent 104 th amendment bill came up, as a response to a Supreme Court judgment that had commented that the government can not enforce implementation of reservation in private educational institutes. This happened on the demand of a sizeable number of Members of Parliament of all political parties. The bill was passed in the parliament in favour of the amendment. The Minister for human resources just did what he was supposed to do. That is to implement the decision of the parliament.

The Lok Sabha passed the Bill amended Article 15, providing reservation for the socially and educationally backward classes, besides the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, in all . educational institutes whether private aided or unaided in addition to the government institutes on 22 nd December 2005. It was passed with a majority of the members present and voting. Of the 381 members present, 379 voted in its favour, one member voted against it and one member abstained

4.       Why 27%? The proportion of OBCs is not 52%. It is even less than 27%: According to Mandal commission report the proportion of OBCs is 52%, which means that they constitute more than half the population. We think that we all should take a look at Mandal Commission report and the method by which they have arrived at this figure. They have used demographic and statistical techniques supported by the sociological understanding to arrive at this figure. 27% is much below the level of 52% which is because of the supreme court ruling that reservations should not exceed the 50% mark.

IV. Some people suggest that instead of a caste based reservation policy:

•  Let the reservations be based on Economic criteria

The Mandal commission report has taken care of economic criteria . The Backward castes and also the SCs and STs are some of the most economically deprived sections. By way of reservations, in fact, the benefits are going to the poorest sections in this country. The level and intensity of poverty among the upper castes cannot be compared to the level and intensity of poverty among the backward castes. Why is it that the worst slums in Mumbai to take an example from close quarters have majority of their population from these backwards castes specially the SCs but also STs and OBCs.

People also argue that the creamy and well off sections from these backward castes would get the benefit of this policy and also that the poor among the upper castes should get the benefits of such a policy. We are saddened but not surprised to see that people who are against reservations often fail to see and be sensitive to the social and cultural backwardness of these backward communities as they have no first hand experience of what it means to be a part of such a social and cultural milieu.

Pure economic measures do not address social backwardness which is not tangible and measurable like economic backwardness. Economically well off among the backward castes can be socially and culturally backward. Likewise, economically backward among the upper castes are likely to be socially and culturally privileged. The poor among the upper castes and the poor among the lower castes are not equal. Lastly, do you expect families with income less than 2.5 lakhs to send their children to these premier institutes where the cost of education is equally high.

2.       Improve the primary education first

No doubt this has to be done, but the issue of primary education arises only when the issue of reservation comes up. Otherwise the pathetic state of primary education in India is never seriously addressed by those who are so vehemently against the caste based reservations.

Even after 59 years of independence if the situation has not improved significantly. Given this situation do we expect that the reservations in higher education would have to wait until all the poor get enrolled in primary schools? We say that primary education should be a priority but reservations in institutes of higher education should go along with the measures which would be taken up to improve the education system in general.

V. Benefits of the reservation policy

We also believe that not only was the reservation policy for the backward communities long overdue, but also it will, in return, have positive effects for the institutes and organizations in specific and the society in general.

We have examples of southern states which have not necessarily suffered from this reservation policy. Tamil Nadu (69% reservation), Kerala (50% reservations), Andhra Pradesh (49.5% reservations) and Karnataka are some of the most prosperous states in our country. The south fares much better on several health indicators. This cannot be attributed to the reservation policy alone. But the evidence suggests that due to the reservation policy there are several doctors in the south from the backward castes and this has helped in reducing the distance between the patients (a large proportion are from rural areas and backward communities) and the doctors. The Public Health services as a result have improved. (S. Venkatesan, May 1 2006, OneWorld South Asia, Merits of Reservation)

When the opportunities would go to different sections these sections would benefit and bring about a positive change not only in these communities but consequently in the entire society and also within the institutes and organizations which are monopolized by a minority section of the society.

We know that a large number of countries in the world have implemented their own varieties of affirmative action policies and have benefited from it. In fact in US, multinational companies like IBM, Microsoft have practiced and favoured affirmative action as people from diverse backgrounds are believed to have contributed to their efficiency and quality in a major way. Recruitment of people from different backgrounds has brought new styles of thinking and more creativity thus enhancing their output (Meera Nanda June 3-16 2006, Frontline).

Implementing reservations and distributing the opportunities to all sections of the society will arrest the plundering and inefficiency of organisations in the Indian system since they will have to invent new ways to generate, optimize and distribute resources with accountability. This will also form a trigger for new growth, investment and widen the market. Hence reservation is a historic opportunity India has come to realize and should not be viewed negatively

EOM.