Author: C P Bhambhri
Publication: The Economic Times
Date: February 5, 2005
URL: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com:80/articleshow/1012003.cms
Introduction: The State should guarantee
education, healthcare facilities and employment to every deprived citizen.
This would take care of the Dalits also. The poor should be the real target
of secular public policies.
The demand for extending the policy
of reservations to the private sector has created confrontation between
a section of the political class and captains of industry represented by
the FICCI and CII. Mr Ramvilas Paswan of the Lok Janshakti Party, Ms Meira
Kumar of the Congress party along with many Dalit MPs have launched a political
campaign for reservations in the private sector, which has been outside
the purview of such a 'quota' system.
They argue that, first,the new economic
policy of 'liberalisation, globalisation and privatisation (LPG)' has led
to the 'shrinkage' of the State and that public sector jobs are becoming
'limited' because of the 'retreat of the State' in favour of the policy
of 'free market economy'.
Second, not only are employment
opportunities in government services decreasing, India has also witnessed
growing 'unemployment' in the '90s and the beginning of the 21st century.
Third, while job opportunities are
expanding in high technology sectors, the manufacturing sector is not able
to absorb new entrants in the job market and decrease in capital investment
in agriculture in the '90s has hit job opportunities in rural India.
In such an employment-'pessimistic'
situation, the private industrial sector should undertake the new social
responsibility of hiring the Dalits on a 'preferential' basis by fixing
a 'quota' as in the case of PSUs.
On December 10, 2004, on a private
member's resolution on reservations for SC/ST in the private sector, minister
of social justice and empowerment Meira Kumar told the Rajya Sabha that
there is no need for the government to impose reservations .
The PM himself has stated: "We want
them (the industrialists) to volunteer. It is affirmative action, including
reservations." A letter was also sent to 218 industry and trade organisations
by the secretary, ministry of social justice, to elicit their response
to the idea of an affirmative action by the private sector.
Voluntariness is a mask worn by
politicians who have to cater to their specific social constituency and
its elite for winning elections.
This was exposed when Mr Paswan
declared on November 27, 2004: 'This time the state (Bihar) will see how
successfully the Muslims and Dalits can bring a change by putting LJP at
the top." Along with Dalits', he played the Muslim card by proclaiming,
"if the LJP comes to power, this government will provide 10% reservation
to Muslims in jobs.
Besides, it will also set up a central
Muslim university in the state to provide adequate academic platform to
the Muslims." India is now witnessing a vulgar and naked politics of 'vote
banks' by the proponents of reservations for the Dalits.
Not to be left behind, the other
backward caste MPs have also demanded reservations in the private sector
for OBCs.
Ms Kumar, a campaigner for reservations,
stated in a meeting before SC and ST MPs on December 22, 2004, that the
response of industry for affirmative action was "not a categorical yes".
She stated that the main reservation of the private sector was that such
reservations would affect merit. And she said that such a talk of merit
vis-a-vis SC/STs is 'hurtful'.
But the claimants for reservations
cannot take refuge behind the spurious argument of 'social justice for
the Dalits'. And 'meritocracy' is not the sole criterion of employment
in the private sector. Public discourse on reservations for the socially
disadvantaged has to be rescued from both the social justice-wallahs and
champions of 'meritocracy' as both of them are hiding more than they are
revealing to the public.
Public discourse for extending reservations
in the private sector has to be rescued from the claimants of 'social justice'
as also 'meritocracy'.
Caste as an identity marker has
made our society and polity completely 'casteised' and the goal of establishing
a 'casteless' society has been completely derailed by the Indian State
by making 'caste' as a point of entry to claim public resources.
If the State were really interested
in the 'empowerment' of the historically discriminated strata of society,
it should have pursued 'secular' public policies of employment guarantee
to all the poor along with compulsory education for the children of the
deprived.
A survey conducted by the National
Council of Applied Economic Research in the mid-'90s and National Sample
Survey Organisation (NSSO 1999) make a pathetic reading while informing
us about the state of education for the Dalits.
If uplift of the Dalits were the
real concern of the Indian political leadership, 'secular' development
programmes like 'food for work' and 'free food for school going children'
should have been honestly implemented. Human resource development policies
concerning the socially deprived Dalits have been a show piece of our governing
classes.
Every concerned MP, MLA and bureaucrat
knows it that secular developmental programmes for the Dalits have been
a mere eyewash.
Further, the rising unemployment
in India should be the concern of public policy makers who are searching
for short cuts to ensure a few jobs in the private sector by a policy of
reservations for the Dalits.
If employment market is showing
'deceleration' of opportunities, distribution of limited jobs on the basis
of reservations is nothing but political tokenism.
Caste politics and caste-based policies,
followed during the last 56 years, cannot lead to the erosion of the pernicious
caste system.
An important lesson from the US
experience is that affirmative action has not at all helped in eradicating
racism or in changing the attitudes of the White American towards the 'poor'
Black. Black elite is the only beneficiary of American policies and he
has seceded from his underprivileged fraternity.
This has happened in India too,
otherwise the Supreme Court would not have had to say that the 'creamy
layer' among the reserved category is not entitled to reservations.
Concern for the Dalits should result
in 'secular' public policies and not in tokenist policies of reservations.
The State should guarantee education,
healthcare facilities and employment to every deprived citizen and this
would take care of the Dalits also.
The poor should be the real target
of secular public policies and this is the only way to build a new modern
casteless secular India.
