The issue of reservation has once again come to the fore. Marathas in
Maharashtra have come out on the streets in unprecedented numbers and with
unusual calm to present their grievances.
What’s the issue?
Marathas have reiterated their demand for reservations, similar to
communities in other states, notably the Gujjars
in Rajasthan, Jats in Uttar Pradesh, and Patels in Gujarat. On the
other hand, they have also demanded for the repeal of the Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act (PoA).
Maratha Demands:
1.
Punishment
to culprits in Kopardi rape and murder case.
2.
Reservation
in education and government jobs.
3.
Amendment
in Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 to
stop its misuse.
4.
Loan
waiver for farmers to curb suicide.
Background:
The Marathas who are almost one-third
of Maharashtra’s population are not a homogeneous community.
Historically, they evolved from the farming
caste of Kunbis who took to military
service in medieval times and started assuming a separate identity for
themselves. Even then they claimed hierarchy of 96 clans.
But the real differentiation has come through the post-independence
development process, creating classes
within the caste:
- A tiny but
powerful section of elites that came to have control over cooperatives of sugar, banks,
educational institutions, factories and politics, called
gadhivarcha (topmost strata) Maratha.
- The next
section comprising owners of land,
distribution agencies, transporters, contracting firms, and those
controlling secondary cooperative societies, is the wadyavarcha
(well-off strata) Maratha.
- The rest of the
population of Marathas comprising
small farmers is the wadivarcha (lower strata) Maratha.
The main argument of the Marathas is that a majority of them are
backward. This argument is axiomatic, applicable to any caste or community
including Brahmins, and pricks the logic of backwardness as the basis for
reservations. It is true that the majority
of the Marathas are small landholders, and they took pride in their
sociopolitical dominance, neglected education as well as the changing
environment. Over the years, with mounting
agrarian crisis, mainly due to neo-liberal
policies of the government, accentuated by the crop failures in
Maharashtra in the previous three seasons, they experienced severe erosion of
their status.
However, as a community, they still own most land (32% of Marathas own
in excess of 75% of land) and dominate all spheres of public life. Even then if
they are included, the other OBCs will be up in arms against them; some already
are.
Demand for Reservation:
The demand for reservation for the Marathas has been around since 1997.
Various committees were appointed to look into the matter.
- The
government-appointed committee under a retired judge R M Bapat, had rejected granting them inclusion in
the Other Backward Classes (OBC) in its July 2008 report.
- The government
instead of rejecting or accepting the report appointed a new committee under the retired judge B P
Saraf.
- Before the
Saraf committee submitted its report, the government set up another special
committee headed by Narayan Rane. Rane
recommended 16% reservation.
- The eager
government got it accepted by
the cabinet and hurriedly issued an ordinance. To its misfortune,
the Bombay High Court stayed it in a matter of a public interest
litigation (PIL) objecting to the OBC status for the Marathas. This was
simply because total
reservations in the state would go up to 73%, exceeding the limit
set by the Supreme Court.
(50% cap was set up in a 1992 judgement of the Supreme Court Indra
Sawhney Etc. Etc vs Union Of India And Others)
(Since this Court has consistently held that the reservation under
Articles 15(4) and 16(4) should not exceed 50% and the States and the Union
have by and large accepted this as correct it should be held as constitutional
prohibition and any reservation beyond 50% would liable to be struck down.)
15(4): 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
16(4): 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
Why there is a need to reexamine our reservation policy?
Changed external conditions: Since independence, the external conditions which initially led to
reservations have changed tremendously. Economic growth has resulted in a decline in poverty numbers from 37% of
the population to 22%. Such development should have brought down the
number of people seeking reservations, in contrast, rewards to government jobs
have grown sharply.
Increased popularity: Wage
increases associated with the Sixth Pay Commission and the expected
implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission have made government jobs highly attractive. Hence, many groups historically tied to the land are
now seeking favourable treatment while seeking entry into non-farm
work.
Increased competition: In
the last decade, access to government jobs has been declining for all groups. The
India Human Development Survey (IHDS)
by University of Maryland and National Council of Applied Economic Research
shows that although in 2004-05 15.3% of men aged 22-39 with education level of
class 12 or more had a regular salaried job in the government or public sector,
this proportion fell to 11.7% by 2011-12. This is because government jobs have stagnated while educational attainment has
increased rapidly. Thus, it is not surprising that more claimants for
these scarce jobs are aggressively staking their claims.
Ambiguity in the reservation process: Since the First Backward Classes Commission headed by Kaka
Kalelkar submitted its report in 1955, several
attempts have been made to identify backward castes, resulting in frequent discordance between these lists.
Lack of consistency and clarity has led to ambiguity in the entire process of
reservation, leaving communities like Jats, Marathas and Patels dissatisfied.
Lack of Data: The
problem is exacerbated by the lack of credible recent data. Since the 1931
Census, the only effort at collecting
data on different castes and their socio-economic circumstances was undertaken
by the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC), 2011. The National Commission for Backward Classes
claimed, in a report dated February 2015, that these data are neither available nor usable for
the purpose of establishing the economic condition of various castes.
50% Cap on Reservation – Social & Constitutional Legitimacy of
this cap
How can we address these problems?
Regular Surveys: Conduct
regular surveys to identify the
beneficiaries who can claim the benefits under the reservation policy.
This can be achieved by including
data on caste in census surveys. The present phase in the planning cycle of the 2021 Census
is the ideal time for ensuring that comprehensive data about caste and religion
for all the groups, including forward castes, backward castes, and SCs and STs,
are included in this Census.
Reevaluation: These
data should also be used to re-evaluate
the eligibility of groups for inclusion in reserved categories every 10 or at
least every 20 years. Much of the social stratification in India is
linked to the occupational status of the various castes. With the changes in
the economy, we can expect both the link
between caste and occupation to weaken and the economic fortunes of
various occupations to change considerably. The opportunity for re-examination
of the caste-wise economic status would facilitate the setting up of a
structure for the redressal of grievances.
Ensure wider reach: We
must also find a way of ensuring a churn in the number of individuals eligible
for benefits to ensure that these benefits reach the widest segment of society.
Though the creamy layer criteria exist, it has not been very effective. With
the advent of the Aadhar card, one way of ensuring that the same families do not capture all the
benefits is to ensure that each time someone uses their reserved category
certificate, their Aadhar number is noted down and linked with the certificate.
Limiting the use: It
may be stipulated that the reserved
category certificate can be used only once in 20 years, thus allowing
for the benefits to reach even the sections that have hitherto been excluded
from their ambit. This would ensure that the same individual is not permitted to obtain both college
education as well as a government job by using the same eligibility criterion,
nor can one obtain an initial posting as well as promotion using the same
criterion.
Way ahead:
1.
FARMING
REMUNERATIVE
2.
RURAL
NON-FARM JOBS
3.
RE-LOOK AT
ENTIRE RESERVATION POLICY
4.
SOCIAL
SECURITY NET FOR FAMILIES (HEALTH, PENSION, HOUSING, FOOD)
5.
SOCIO-ECONOMICALLY
INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
Xxx
July 2016, a 15-year-old girl in Maharashtra's Kopardi was murdered
after gang-rape by three men. She was so brutally tortured that her hair had
been pulled out, her limbs and teeth had been broken and there were bite marks
on her body.
The gruesome Kopardi rape and murder triggered massive outrage and
protests across Maharashtra. The three culprits in the case - Jitendra Babulal
Shinde, 26, Santosh Gorakh Bhawal, 30, and Nitin Gopinath Bhailume, 28 - were
held guilty of rape, murder and conspiracy last week and were today punished to
be hanged till death.
August Kranti Day 2018: August Kranti Day is celebrated annually on
August 9. Various Maratha groups have announced Maharashtra shutdown on August
Kranti Day 2018 to intensify the agitation for reservations.
