Crutches for the able-Bodied

As the new dispensation at the centre settles in government, they have announced a plethora of policy changes – from detoxification of education, disbandment of divestment ministry to levying of cess on tax-payers. The initial euphoria and the desire to do something are natural. After all, this is the time to convert election promises to policy decisions. However, in the photogenic spectacle of dashing MPs obliging the paparazzi by posing in their newly bought ‘ethnic’ dresses, an important event did not get the due attention. This was the release of Common Minimum Program document by United Progressive Alliance. The document is intended to serve as a policy guideline for the incumbent government –the esoteric ‘what to do’. The exulting ministers have been left to grapple with the ‘nominal’ exoteric issue of ‘how to do’. The CMP promises the moon to every child who cares to ask for it, but it promises something more – “legislation for one-third reservation for women in Vidhan Sabhas and in the Lok Sabha” and “issue of affirmative action, including reservations in the private sector”. The only word common in the two sentences is reservation, a word that will have strong influence on the direction we are likely to move in as a nation.

The word reservation and its politically correct euphemism “affirmative action” have been a part of our lexicon since Independence. The constituent Assembly spent considerable time over the broader issue of empowerment of SC/STs, and felt that quotas should be reserved in the legislature, education and public sector. The idea was to tackle the issue of discrimination against these classes, crassly labelled as ‘Shudras’ and ‘ati-shudras’ in ‘Chaturvarna’ system. The leading lights of Indian freedom struggle spent considerable time to improve the condition of these communities. Ambedkar and Gandhi differed about the methodology of this change, but concurred that a change, nevertheless, is required.

The inhuman exploitation of so-called ‘untouchables’ itself was an Indian avatar of slavery, an abominable practice that was rampant throughout the world. From time to time, Indian leaders pondered over the issue and tried to devise means to end this isolation. Post-independence, reservation was considered prudent as it would guarantee greater interaction of marginalized sections with the rest of the society. This was also done to tackle the ‘religious’ angle of the problem- the presence of these sections was considered ‘polluting’. Even meritorious people from these sections were forced to the margins of society, as Ambedkar realized much to his chagrin. The “affirmative action” was not an end in itself, but was supposed to be coupled with efforts to improve the general condition of the under-privileged.

Like all other noble ideas, reservation was dirtied in the rough and tumble of politics. The government failed to deliver on the promise of upliftment of these sections, and the reservation created a creamy layer. After the mud settled on the initial tumultuous years of Indian democracy, an entrenched lobby prevailed on the government to continue with this policy. The fruits of this policy were increasingly getting limited to ‘privileged’ weaker sections; what chance does the son of a farm labourer have against a Commissioner’s son?

The tool was also used by successive governments to cover their failures in bringing social justice to the poorest of poor. Any criticism of reservation policy was labelled as ‘anti-dalit’ and deemed a politically incorrect proposition. The political parties also washed their hands off the need to improve social conditions by pointing to reservation. Needless to say, this atmosphere stifled rather than encourage education and empowerment of dalits. The atrocities continued, the creamy layers attained enviable levels of prosperity and refused to let go the crutches of reservation. This lop-sided development has continued to this day. Whereas a huge majority of dalits remain poor and ostracized, a celebrated minority monopolizes all benefits given in the name of social justice.

Meanwhile, the tool of reservation has become a panacea for all political parties to deflect attention from their governance failures. Any form of dissent or disenchantment is bribed with promise of reservation. So, now we have reservations for backward castes, economically weaker sections of higher castes, and women; the reservation for Muslims and Christians may follow suit. It is distressing to note that if left unchecked, this trend of reserving seats would lead to a 100% reservation based on composition of society. That this invariably feels to solve the problem is conveniently overlooked. So, the creamy layers have hijacked reservations, strong people use their wives as proxies for panchayat elections, and the monster of casteism is stronger than ever before.

The proponents of reservation theory point to the innate disadvantage that sections who are offered this sop suffer from. So, dalits exploited for centuries can’t be expected to compete with the ‘savarna’ classes in the cut-throat world, the murky world of politics deters women from participating in the political process, and the economically weaker sections don’t have the means to educate their children; the rambling goes on and on. Time and effort is not spent on finding the root cause of these problems and fixing them. So, criminalization of politics continues unabated, poor are not given opportunities to improve their lot, and violence against backward sections is still in vogue.

The theory of ‘in-born handicaps’ is ridiculous and contrary to all the evidence from real life. Given the right circumstances, there is no reason why a group or community can not perform as well as some other. Shiv Nader, a billionaire Information Technology czar is a ‘dalit’ and so is the tennis icon Vijay Amritraj. Premjis and Pallonjis are ‘minorities’ and so is our president and prime-minister. India is one of the few countries in the world to have been led by a woman, Mrs. Gandhi. Even today, women are leading four important states and another was about to be a prime-minister before she turned down the offer. It would be a mockery of common-sense to run down the successes of these people from ‘weaker’ sections as exceptions. The fact is, given the right environment, every individual irrespective of their caste, creed, religion or sex can achieve the very best in life.

It is highly demeaning to label a whole group of people as unworthy of achieving things on their own. The fair environment can be developed only by investing more in education, cutting the leakages due to corruption and enforcing law and order to end systematic exploitation. Rather than indulging in meaningless gimmicks and propounding retrogressive policy measures, the government should concentrate on fending off evils like nepotism, discrimination, criminalization, lack of education opportunities and corruption. Only then we can realize the dream of a just and egalitarian society with ample opportunities for those who care to grab.

Till then, doors will keep closing on the meritorious; and the able-bodied will continue to be offered crutches.