THE RESERVATION POLICIES OF

INDIAAND THE AFFIRMATIVE ACTIONS TAKEN BY THE

INDUSTRIES

“I try to look upon the problem not in the sense of religious minority,

but rather in the sense of helping backward groups in the country.

I do not look at it from a religious point of view or a caste point of view,

but from a caste point of view that a backward class ought to be helped, and I am glad that this reservation will be limited to ten years…”

-Jawaharlal Nehru addressing the Constituent Assembly, May, 1949.

Objectives• In India, the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled

Tribes (STs), which together constitute a quarter of the total population, have long suffered from discrimination and exclusion.

• This is reflected in a lack of access to income. They also experience resistance, violence and even atrocities in their attempts to secure human rights and lawful entitlements.

• The discrimination and exclusion experienced by these groups has resulted in severe deprivation and poverty.

CONTD……The Indian government’s approach towards these groups consists of three main elements. These are:1. legal and other safeguards against discrimination;2. affirmative action measures in the state and state-supported sector;3. general developmental and empowerment measures in the private sector.

•India’s current affirmation action policy, otherwise known as the ‘reservation policy’, is operative in three main spheres, namely appointment and promotion in government services, admissions to public educational institutions, and seats in Central, State and local legislatures.

Background1. Affirmative Action for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes

communities is defined as a voluntary commitment by Indian companies to help the Government and civil society in the national endeavor to ensure equal opportunity to members of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes communities.

2. Ambedkar pioneered the reservation policy as early as the 1920s, mainly on the basis of widespread and ubiquitous discriminatory and exclusionary character of Hindu society with devastating consequences, particularly for former untouchables.

3. In April 2006, Hon'ble Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh called on private sector industry to take affirmative action in education, employment opportunities and employment for weaker sections.

Constitutional ProvisionThe basic approach was specified in Articles 14, 15(1), 16(1) and 16(2).•Article 14  guaranteed equality to all: “The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India.” That was the fundamental guarantee.

•Article 15(1)  made that guarantee specific in one particular: The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them.

•Article 15(2 )  guaranteed equal access for everyone to public facilities like wells, restaurants etc.

•Article 15(3)  provided: “Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any special provision for women and children.” Notice again: the only categories for which special provisions were envisaged were women and children. In particular, notice that no exceptions were envisaged on the basis of castes.

•Article 16(1)  made the fundamental guarantee of equality. “There shall be equality of opportunity for all citizens in matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the State.”

•Article 16(2)  did for governmental employment what Article 15(1) did for a citizen’s living in general: “No citizen  shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, residence or any of them, be ineligible for, or discriminated against in respect of, any employment or office under the State.”

•Article 16(4)  contained “Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any provision for the reservation of appointments or posts in favor of any backward class of citizens which, in the opinion of the State, is not adequately represented in the services under the State.”

Beneficiary Groups of the Reservation System

•CASTE•GENDER•RELIGION•STATUS AS A DOMICILE•OTHERS

Caste1. In central government funded higher education institutions,

22.5% of available seats are reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) students (15% for SCs, 7.5% for STs).This reservation percentage has been raised to 49.5%,by including an additional 27% reservation for OBCs.

2. This ratio is followed even in Parliament and all elections where a few constituencies are earmarked for those from certain communities .

Gender1. In 1993, a constitutional amendment in India called for a random one third

of village council leader, or pradhan, positions in gram panchayat to be reserved for women. 

2. The village council is responsible for the provision of village infrastructure – such as public buildings, water, and roads – and for identifying government program beneficiaries.

3. Recent research on the quota system has revealed that it has changed perceptions of women’s abilities, improved women’s electoral chances, and raised aspirations and educational attainment for adolescent girls.

4. There is a long-term plan to extend this reservation to parliament and legislative assemblies. For instance, some law schools in India have a 30% reservation for females.

5. Progressive political opinion in India is strongly in favor of providing preferential treatment to women in order to create a level playing field for all of its citizens.

6. The Women's Reservation Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha on 9 March 2010 by a majority vote of 186 members in favor and 1 against. It will now be forwarded to the Lok Sabha, and if passed there, would be implemented.

Religion1. The Tamil Nadu government has allotted 3.5% of seats each to Muslims and

Christians, thereby altering the OBC reservation to 23% from 30% (since it excludes persons belonging to Other Backward Castes who are either Muslims or Christians).

2. Andhra Pradesh's administration has introduced a law enabling 4% reservations for Muslims. (contested in court)

3.  Kerala Public Service Commission has a quota of 12% for Muslims. 4. Religious minority status educational institutes also have 50% reservation for

their particular religions.5. The Central government has listed a number of Muslim communities

as backward Muslims, making them eligible for reservation. [However, neither the religion of Islam nor Sikh-Panth advocate caste-based discrimination]. In fact, in a 'Gurudwara' a Sikh priest acts as a 'granthi' (i.e. a chore reserved for the 'Brahmins'), cleans the premises of the Gurudwara (acts like a 'shoodra'), grows flowers and vegetables around the Gurudwara (like a 'vaish') and, if the Gurudwara is assaulted, he competently fights like a warrior ('kshatriya).

Status as a DomicileWith few exceptions, all jobs under certain State governments are reserved for those who are domiciled within the jurisdiction of that government. For example, in Punjab Engineering College (Chandigarh) 85% of seats were earlier reserved for Chandigarh-domiciles—now it is 50%. There are also some seats reserved for the Jammu and Kashmir 'migrants' in every Government-aided educational institute.

Other1. Some reservations are also made for:2. Terrorist victims from Kashmir, e.g. in Punjab3. Single Girl-Child (in Punjab)4. Sons/daughters/grandsons/granddaughters of Freedom Fighters5. Physically handicapped6. Sports personalities7. Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) have a small percentage of reserved seats in

educational institutions. (Note : NRI reservations were removed from IIT in 2003)8. Candidates sponsored by various organizations9. Those who have served in the armed forces ('ex-serviceman' quota—because the

age of superannuation in the Military Service is much shorter than that in the Civil posts; certain intakes are tenure-based, e.g. the contract for Short-Service Commission is merely 8 years)

10. Dependents of armed forces personnel killed-in-action11. Repatriates12. Reservation in special schools of Government Undertakings/ PSUs, for the

children of their own employees (e.g. Army schools, PSU schools, etc.)13. Paid pathway reservations in places of worship (e.g., Tirupathi Balaji]Temple,

Tiruthani Murugan (Balaji) temple)14. Seat reservation for Senior citizens/ PH in public (bus) transport.

Educational impacts The second most important aspect of reservation policy relates to

education.

The evidence indicates that there has been a large increase inenrolment of SCs and STs in education institutions. In 1981, theproportions of SCs and STs among total graduates were estimatedto be 3.3% and 0.8% respectively, far below their shares in totalpopulation. By the late 1990s however, these figures had risen to7.8% and 2.7%.

Political representation• As described in the

previous section, seats are reserved for SCs and STs in Central and State legislatures in proportion to their shares of population, and these are mandatory in nature.

Private sector

• The Tata group, with a legacy of commitment to the community, established the group forum for affirmative action in November 2006.

• The Group Corporate Centre endorsed the Group Affirmative Action Policy in April 2007, affirming a policy of positive discrimination where, everything else being equal, Tata companies were exhorted to employ more members of the SC/ST communities and engage more firms owned by SC/ST members as business associates.

• Tata companies are exploring newer and more innovative ways to assimilate SC/ST communities into the mainstream and give them a helping hand.

Initiatives taken by TATA• Tata Steel has been

striving for the cause of the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in the spirit of affirmative action. Its focus population includes the SC/ST communities in the state es of Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh.

• The company recognizes that diversity in the workplace positively impacts business. It ensures equal employment opportunities and provides training to develop the socially disadvantaged. Approximately 20 per cent of the company’s workforce comprises members of the SC/ST communities

Tata refractories1. Tata Refractories (TRL) is

totally committed to affirmative action initiatives for the benefit of SC/ST communities. It has a well-articulated affirmative action policy and a code of conduct for affirmative action.

2. TRL has taken a major step by establishing the Self Employment Skill Development Institute (SESDI) in Belpahar for unemployed youth, particularly those belonging to the SC/ST communities.

3. It has already trained 301 youths in 18 batches in various trades. Around 80 per cent of the successful candidates have either found gainful employment or have opted to start their own enterprises.

4. The eligibility criteria are relaxed to accommodate more SC/ST candidates."The relaxation is with reference to the height of the candidate and the marks achieved.

Implementation issues• Currently, the reservation policy applies to government

and government supported sectors only, and no hard bound rule for the private sector.

• There has been a striking increase in the number of SC and ST government employees.

• The formal reservation policy in the government sector and the informal affirmative action policy in the private sector have also contributed to an improvement in the human development of SCs and STs.

Contd..• During the course of the

implementation of India’s reservation policy, some problems have become apparent.

• Despite the improvement in human development among SCs and STs, disparities in attainment with non-SCs and non-STs persist even to this day.

Demerits• The employment in private is solely on the basis of

merit and talent. While much is being done, much more remains to be done because of the following beliefs:

• Cost effectiveness: Most of the industry spokesmen have argued that reservation will ruin their competitive edge because of relaxation of merit as the sole criterion for selecting the workforce.

• Lower Productivity Level: The dilution of merit in the name of reservation will impose a cost (in terms of lower labour productivity) on the industries, which may not be able to compete in the global markets.

SOLUTION….

• The reservation on any basis must be removed and oath should be taken not to discriminate any person on any grounds like caste , class, religion etc..

• Lets abandon all barriers so the nation will be in true sense unity in diversity…

• The motto should be :

• ONE NATION ONE HEART ONE WAY!!

THANK YOU……