RESERVATION:
THE ERA OF REVIVAL
Dakshita Garhwal
Sunday, 30 August 2015; 12.31
We are proud to have diversity of cultures in our
country, but this turns out to be a reason of debates and destructive
revolutions when it comes to rights.
The fire of reservation seems to have no end. If
this continues, every state will have its own new revolutionist belonging to
several communities demanding reservations. This scenario attracted my mind
towards a striking line being circulated over social media nowadays, “How can a
country progress when there is a race to be determined as backward?”
The constitution of India seeks to promote a
caste-free society. Article 14 of the Constitution says, “The state shall not
deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws
within the territory of India". The two terms, ‘Equality before the law’
and ‘Equal protection of law’ are distinct in meaning with each other. The
former means that everybody is equal before the law and cannot be granted privileges
on any ground, however the later seeks equality in equal circumstances.
The framers of our Constitution were never in favor of reservations based on caste, hence they provided for article 15(1) which says that there must not be any discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, colour, birthplace etc. However, article 16(4) empowers the state to make laws on reservation. Even in this provision, the word ‘backward class’ was used rather than backwardness on the basis of caste. State of Madras v. Srimathi Champakam Dorairajan and Venkatraman v. State of Madras are the two landmark judgements which bought the inference of the Supreme Court that any reservation provided on the basis of caste would be unconstitutional. Soon after this, the constituent assembly which drafted the constitution included article 15(4) stating that, “Nothing in this article or in Clause (2) of Article 29 shall prevent the State from making any special provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.” In M.R. Balaji v. State of Mysore, the court ceiled the reservation up to 50% otherwise the players of politics might have taken it up till 99% in order to attract votes.
The framers of our Constitution were never in favor of reservations based on caste, hence they provided for article 15(1) which says that there must not be any discrimination on the basis of caste, creed, colour, birthplace etc. However, article 16(4) empowers the state to make laws on reservation. Even in this provision, the word ‘backward class’ was used rather than backwardness on the basis of caste. State of Madras v. Srimathi Champakam Dorairajan and Venkatraman v. State of Madras are the two landmark judgements which bought the inference of the Supreme Court that any reservation provided on the basis of caste would be unconstitutional. Soon after this, the constituent assembly which drafted the constitution included article 15(4) stating that, “Nothing in this article or in Clause (2) of Article 29 shall prevent the State from making any special provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.” In M.R. Balaji v. State of Mysore, the court ceiled the reservation up to 50% otherwise the players of politics might have taken it up till 99% in order to attract votes.
‘Backward class’ is not defined in the Constitution. From
here, the new debate of ‘creamy layer’ comes to existence. An ordinary sufferer
of the reservation system belonging to general category opts to remove
reservation from its roots providing opportunities on the basis of eligibility. But due the concept of ‘Equal Protection of law’, the provision
of reservation is necessary. The framers of the constitution intended to remove
the creamy layers from the benefit of reservation. Creamy layer is defined as a
class of elite people from lower classes. Some argue that reservation must be
provided on economic basis. However, here comes a debatable remark that the
intention of the framers of the Constitution was to lift up certain sections of
the society ‘socially and educationally’. Some interpretations seek that the
reservation policy was not a poverty elevation scheme. It is also said that
some communities would always be looked down as backward, even if they are economically
stable. Hence, the system of reservation is needed to be revived.
However, lifting up the economically backward must be considered under lifting the ‘socially and educationally’ backward.
However, lifting up the economically backward must be considered under lifting the ‘socially and educationally’ backward.
Coming towards the solution of the problems, a survey should
be done in order to determine the different classes or people in the society on the basis of;
(i) economic backwardness,
(ii) educational backwardness,
(iii) social backwardness
(i) economic backwardness,
(ii) educational backwardness,
(iii) social backwardness
The classes which are economically backward must be provided reservations in
the jobs; the economically backwards to be provided reservation in educational institutions
.To uplift the socially backwards which might be economically and educationally
strong, an ease to form associations, reservations in the political community
etc must be provided. Reviving the policy is a dire need. We cannot put all the
backward communities on the same line of reservation as now, backwardness
differ in circumstances. Such classification would help in identification of
people (and not classes/castes) lagging behind in each situation and the misuse
of the policy of the reservation can be avoided. Also, it would be an easy step
to stop classifications on the basis of castes.
Reservation is a need which could not be afforded to be
converted as a misuse in a country like India, which claims to be a successful
democracy in the world.
Related searches:
Singh.N.K; Senior Journalist; from an article titled
‘Fir chida arakshan ka besura rag’ in Naidunia on 28 August 2015.
Pandey. J.N; The Constitutional Law of India.
Very true , reservation at this time is a burning issue and it has been for years
ReplyDeleteI belive that it could be a good initiative towards the change { Be the change }