Affirmative action or reverse discrimination? Understanding reservations in India

Finally, a judgment by the Supreme court that makes sense. I was beginning to lose faith in the judiciary but some of it has been restored.

The Supreme Court has held that the State cannot impose reservations in private educational institutions not aided by the government and has suggested that reservations affect merit.

I have engaged in numerous debates on the subject while in college, have heard angry grievances from friends when they were deprived admissions in top notch colleges because half of the seats were reserved, heard stories of people making false caste certificates to get jobs and have witnessed students getting admissions through a NRI quota with a score of 30 out of 200 in the admission tests. Do we really understand affirmative action in India? I am totally convinced that reservations are not the way to implement an affirmative action programme in India.

The focus in relation to affirmative action is obviously flawed. I remember reading Shashi Tharoor's book India: From Midnight to the Millenium where he discussed India's brand of affirmative action in detail and said that in India, affirmative action is not about opportunities but outcomes and I could not agree more. We have reservations everywhere- schools, workplace, Parliament and now Manmohan Singh is open to a discussion on reservation in the private sector-Where does this stop? What we donot realise that with the shrinking of government jobs, more and more people are seeking employment with the private sector where efficiency is the name of the game. While reservations can get you a job in the private sector, it will not help you retain a job if you are no good. Therefore, merit is of supreme importance and no one is willing to compromise on that except the Indian government.

How long shall we compromise on merit in the name of reservations in this country? Instead of freely dishing out quotas, why don't we better the skills of the backward classes by providing better educational facilities in the remotest of villages so that they can compete with others at an equal footing? Besides, why should reservations continue through generations? For instance, if a Dalit from a village gets an opportunity to get a good education and becomes a doctor or civil servant and develops the ability to send his kids to the best schools, then why should his kids be entitled to special advantages as compared to his other classmates? Reservations should not be distributed as a freebee over generations perpetuating reverse discrimination and making a mockery of the idea of equal opportunity.

Surprisingly, no one talks about remedying economic backwardness in this country as if to suggest that it does not exist. Reservations have failed to reach those who need it the most- the poor and the weak. Unfortunately, caste based discrimination is recognised and discrimination based on one's economic status is not. If you are Brahmin and poor, too bad but if you are a Dalit and rich, you are entitled to all kinds of reservations and benefits based on the historical discrimination that your ancestors had suffered. What kind of social justice are we talking about?

Therefore, we should really reconsider reservations for once as it has failed to achieve what it had sought out to achieve. The beneficiaries of reservations are not those for whom it was originally meant. I am not disputing the existence of caste based discrimination. It is as stark as daylight. But, one really needs to understand the concept of empowerment. True empowerment of the backward classes cannot be achieved if we are unable to attain a fair balance between merit and opportunity and following a blind reservation policy to strengthen the Dalit vote bank will definitely not help the cause.

Please read a short report on the judgment by Manoj Mitta at http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=76514

Also read Swaminathan Aiyar's views on the subject at http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/888078.cms

To get a slightly different perspective on the issue, read this article by Praful Bidwai in support of reservations at http://www.countercurrents.org/dalit-bidwai210804.htm