Author: Shri Kuldip Nayar
Publications: The Navhind Times,
Panaji, Goa
Date: May 16, 2001
Introduction: The dalit leaders,
constituting the creamy layer, are too powerful to allow benefits to the
lower half among the dalits.
Following the norms of democracy,
the constituent assembly in India, justifiably, tagged the seats in the
Lok Sabha and the assemblies to the number of voters in a particular state.
The larger secured more members and the smaller less. Little did the constitution
framers realise at that time that such a provision would reward the states
without family planning discipline.
This has, indeed, happened. Over
the years, Bihar, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and UP have increased
their strength in the Lok Sabha and the assembly on the basis of population.
All the five states are Hindi-speaking. They are situated in the north
of Vindhya Hills and the states are known as BIMARU. The non-Hindi speaking
states have felt irritated over their getting more seats.
The 2000 Census only confirms that
the Hindi-speaking states continue to proliferate in population. They beat
the country's annual growth rate of 1.9 per cent. Bihar's increase is 2.85
per cent, Haryana's 2.47, Madhya Pradesh's 2.18, Rajasthan's 2.49 per cent
and UP 2.3 per cent. In contrast, the five states down the Vindhyas, are
below the annual growth rate. Andhra Pradesh registers 1.3 per cent, Karnataka
1.59 per cent, Kerala 0.90 per cent, Orissa 1.48 per cent and Tamil Nadu
1.6 per cent.
Unfortunately, the principle not
to link seats with the population has not been applied to the scheduled
castes and scheduled tribes. The reserved seats for them may increase,
lessening the number of seats in the general category. This is bound to
create bad blood between the upper and lower castes. Tagging seats to the
population is as reprehensible in the case of dalits and tribal people
as in others. The National Democratic Alliance has played politics.
To my surprise, most MPs are unwilling
to join issue on the point of watering down any concession for the dalits
and the tribal people. Political considerations have come to weigh in the
minds of members so much that their attitude is dictated by what is good
for the caste, not the society. Political parties do not want to take a
stand which would annoy the scheduled castes and the tribes even remotely.
This brings me to the larger question of reservation. The extension to
the law is given by parliament every 10 years. It seems to suit all parties
which have developed a vested interest because of electoral advantages.
When the legislation for extension
of reservations in jobs and admissions to professional institutions came
up for discussion a few months ago, I appealed to the Prime Minister, Mr
Atal Behari Vajpayee, who was present in the house, to put a time limit
to the reservations on the basis of caste.
Let it be even 50 years, two per
cent tapering off every year. What was meant to last 10 years has already
gone beyond 50 years and there is no end in sight. I argued that the criterion
should be economic backwardness. Nobody seemed interested in my proposal.
Dr B R Ambedkar, the unchallenged
dalit leader, who framed the constitution, was strongly opposed to reservations.
He described them as crutches. He agreed to the provision only on the understanding
that it would not be continued after 10 years. Today no party dares even
to talk about it, much less suggest its modification.
Even the Supreme Court's advice
that the creamy layer of the dalits should be debarred from availing itself
of the concessions has been ignored. The dalit leaders, who constitute
the creamy layer, are too powerful to allow anything which may give benefits
to the lower half among the dalits.
With reservations for the backward,
the problem has got still more tangled. A bigger front in favour of reservations
has developed, although the dalits and the backward are generally at war
with each other. The demand for reservation on one pretext or the other
is increasing in the country, creating a strong feeling of inequality among
those who are outside the periphery of reservation.
'Even if we had to atone for sins,
50 years should have been adequate for penance,' argue the youth of upper
castes. The worst fallout is that the best, outside the charmed circle
of reservation, are going abroad. They do not get admission to professional
institutions or govt jobs because of reservations. Even the Supreme Court
judgment that reservations should not go beyond 50 per cent of the tribal
population has been flouted.
Affirmative action, as prevalent
in the US to accommodate the coloured, is understandable in a democratic
society but not permanent legislation on the basis of caste. Still worse
is the reservation in promotions because the promotees under the rules
have neither expertise nor acceptance. This is affecting work in government
offices. Resentment against all this is rising. The sense of denial, accumulating
day by day, may reach a flash point one day. It may wash away all kinds
of reservation. The nation must have the best. That is the reason why the
armed forces have not accepted reservations.
The bug of reservation has lately
bitten some Muslim leaders, if not organisations. Once again there is the
same old talk which one heard before partition. They seem to forget how
the Hindu-Muslim problem got aggravated in the wake of separate electorates
introduced by the British. The gap has not yet been bridged.
The unkindest cut comes from a Sikh
member of the National Minorities Commission. He has asked the MPs of his
community to join hands to demand more representation in different institutions
in the country. The safeguards, which have been guaranteed to the minorities
in the constitution, are the nation's obligation towards them. But representation
on the basis of community may spell ruin to the nation's unity. If every
community wants to articulate its own agenda, what happens to the country?
It is sad that parochial thinking
is spreading all over the country - sometimes in the name of community,
sometimes caste or something else. This is telling upon the country's pluralistic
thinking, ethos and the character of the state. India may disintegrate
if the trend is not stopped immediately.
