Author: B R Haran
Publication: News Today
Date: May 3, 2008
URL: http://newstodaynet.com/col.php?section=20&catid=29
The five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme
Court, after a prolonged battle upheld the 93rd amendment of the constitution
providing 27% reservation for the OBCs in Central Higher Educational Institutions
in a supposedly land mark verdict on 10 April 2008.
The SC had also said that the 27% reservation
for OBCs could be implemented from the current year (2008-09) onwards.
The salient features of the verdict are, the
'Creamy Layer' must be excluded from the ambit of reservation after verification
as per the 'Office Memorandum' of September 1993 and the Office of Memorandum
must be amended to include MPs and MLAs. Quotas must also be based on 'economic'
backwardness and not on castes alone to ensure proper identification of 'Socially
& Educationally Backward CLASSES'. Quotas cannot be in perpetuity and
the system must be reviewed every five years. No quota benefits for PG Courses,
as graduates lose their educationally backward status.
The abovesaid salient features come as a blessing
in disguise for all the right-thinking citizens of the country, who don't
believe in the so-called OBC classification and who prefer admissions based
only on merit. It is a known fact that the majority of the political class
fought for the inclusion of the creamy layer right from the beginning, refusing
to review the system under operation so far. So, how can they be trusted to
ensure 'honest' implementation of the SC's direction on creamy layer and economic
criteria? What is the guarantee that they would not 'manipulate' and reduce
the range of creamy layer? What is the guarantee that this system would be
reviewed every five years?
The main objective of the Constituent Assembly was that, poverty and caste
discrimination must be eradicated from the society. That is why, it sanctioned
reservation benefits only for the really backward, that is the SCs & STs,
who have a history of being victims of discrimination. It is to be noted that
this concession was given to them by the Constituent Assembly only for a period
of ten years! Since then, the successive governments, with the connivance
of all the political classes, have perpetually increased the time & quota
limits and created many other caste formations such as BCs, MBCs and OBCs
through Constitutional Amendments without bothering much about the basic structure
of the Constitution. They have also added many more castes in those formations
every now and then based on their vote-bank strength. No government had the
vision for the future and care for the generation next to take it forward
in pursuit of progress and prosperity.
Such callous games played by the politicos
have resulted in the primary & secondary education still remaining inaccessible
to the poor & downtrodden. The educational infrastructure is in a pathetic
state in rural areas. The quality of teachers in rural areas is not up to
scratch and their inefficiency affects the learning ability of the students.
All these anomalies lead to 'drop-outs' or 'substandard' students, who find
it very difficult to cope with the syllabi when they go for higher secondary
or college studies.
Ultimately the main objective of the Constituent Assembly has gone for a six,
resulting in the society remaining divided along caste lines and poverty taking
strong roots and formation of an unbridgeable gap between the rich and the
poor. Without rectifying these fundamental problems, what is the point in
extending the reservation benefits? A proper review, say in the sixties or
seventies or even in the eighties, would have helped in avoiding the 'Mandal
Madness', which has worsened the system further for the detriment of the society.
Such a review would have also helped in changing the system and moving forward
towards the real empowerment of poorer classes, thereby nearing the achievement
of true social justice.
The so-called 9th Schedule was yet another ploy of the political class to
give protection to the devious laws from the scrutiny of Judiciary. Some of
the Acts like Tamil Nadu Act of 1994 (69% reservations) have been placed under
the 9th Schedule. But fortunately, a Nine-Judge Bench of the Supreme Court
had come out with a landmark judgment in January 2007 saying that the laws
taking shelter under the IX Schedule of the Constitution of India are subject
to judicial review.
The inference derived from the practice of the present system so far is that,
neither the country nor the intended people have benefited.
If the SCs, STs and the most backwards are
still in the same status even after five decades, then it clearly shows that
there is something seriously wrong with the system. There is a funny aspect,
which makes a mockery of the system and that is, the backwardness increases
along with the increase in literacy rate! The present judgment of the SC is
in no way going to help correct the situation, as long as primary & secondary
education remain inaccessible to the poor and downtrodden at the rural areas!
The SC has failed to note that the 93rd amendment has violated the 'basic
structure' of the Constitution and unfortunately played in to the hands of
the political class. The Supreme Court's Judgment has neither courage nor
conviction, but only confusion in the name of balancing! It had upheld an
amendment, which was a fraud on Constitution!
