The reservation policy requires a fresh relook and new methods are needed for the upliftment of people belonging to Scheduled Castes (SC), Schedule Tribes (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC), Supreme Court judge Justice Pankaj Mithal said.

While concurring with the majority verdict on the right of states to sub-categorise SCs for granting quotas, Justice Mithal said notwithstanding the success or failure of the reservation policy, one thing is for sure that it has burdened the judiciary at all levels, especially the High Courts and the Supreme Court with enormous litigation.

Classification of “depressed classes”

• The provision for reservation for any class of persons at first sight may appear to be anti-merit but if weighed on the scales of social justice, it is imperative.

• The poor and the downtrodden sections of Indian society were earlier described by the ruling class as the “depressed classes” which included a wide range of persons such as untouchables, persons of various backward communities and those living in tribes in hills and forests or in remote areas of the country.

• Slowly, these depressed classes of persons came to be classified into various groups according to their vocation such as scavengers, leather workers, ironsmiths, carpenters, watchman and other menial workers and were referred to as Scheduled Castes; and those living in tribes in hills, forests or remote areas came to be recognised as Scheduled Tribes. The remaining depressed classes of persons or marginalised classes were later classified as Other Backward Classes.

• In view of Article 16(4) of the Constitution and in response to demands for reservation and other benefits for Backward Classes in other parts of India and in the Centre, the government appointed a Backward Classes Commission under Article 340 of the Constitution on January 29, 1953. 

• The Commission, popularly known as the Kaka Kalelkar Commission, was required to investigate the conditions of socially and educationally backward classes within the territory of India and the difficulties under which they labour and to make recommendations as to the steps that should be taken by the Union or any state to remove difficulties and to improve their conditions. 

• The panel prepared a list of 2,399 backward castes/communities for the entire country and 837 of those were classified as ‘most backward’.

• The Commission submitted its report on March 30, 1955. It was considered by the government for over five years, but was rejected in 1961. 

• In 1965, the central government appointed a Committee to advise on the revision of the existing list of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. This Committee, popularly known as B.N. Lokur Committee, reported and concluded that the question of de-scheduling (or excluding) of relatively advanced communities should receive serious and urgent consideration. 

• It recommended for the intensive periodical survey of the socioeconomic progress made by each of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, probably to exclude certain communities that have progressed and to include those that have been left behind. 

Mandal Commission

• The most talked about ‘Second Backward Class Commission’ was constituted on January 1, 1979 by the government of India which is popularly known as B.P. Mandal Commission. This Commission was entrusted with the job to investigate the conditions of socially and educationally backward classes, to recommend the criteria for defining such classes of citizens, steps to be taken for their advancement and upliftment and the manner in which they can be extending the benefit of the reservation. 

• The Commission submitted its report on December 31, 1980. The Commission on the basis of 1961 Census compiled a national list of 3,743 classes of persons under the heading ‘Other Backward Classes’ out of which 2,108 were classified as ‘depressed backward classes’. The Commission recorded that 52 per cent (including 44 per cent Hindus and 8 per cent non-Hindus) of the citizens are Other Backward Classes whereas 22.5 per cent are Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in India.

• The government while implementing the recommendations of the Mandal Commission took a historic decision on  August 6, 1990 to introduce 27 per cent reservation for Other Backward Classes which were socially and educationally backward classes. This was in addition to 22.5 per cent reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. 

• The Mandal Commission thus recommended for 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in public sector and government jobs and in promotion at all levels. It is also recommended that in the event the above quota remains unfilled in a particular year, the remaining vacancies be carried forward for a period of three years whereupon the unfilled vacancies if any would stand dereserved. It further recommended age relaxation to the OBCs at par with the Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes.

Protests for and against reservation

• In pro-reservation agitations and anti-reservation agitations, the peace and tranquillity of the entire country, at times, stood disturbed. 

• During the anti-Mandal Commission agitation somewhere in 1990, most of the states witnessed large scale disturbances. The turmoil so created by such agitations and demonstrations particularly in the months of August-November of 1990 is the ample indication of the widespread violence. 

• The country witnessed similar violence in the year 2006 when the students of IITs and AIIMS came out on the streets opposing reservation. 

• Also, there was violence in Maharashtra against the Maratha reservation, to talk about the few.

• The issue is how to carry out the process to bring about equality and development of all, the manner of identification of the so-called depressed classes or the downtrodden and the form/nature of steps to be taken for their upliftment. 

• The government has used caste as the basis for the upliftment rather than identifying the class of people on the basis of vocation or their social and economic conditions who actually requires help to be promoted to the level of the forward class. 

Most backward left with nothing in their hands

• Many case studies show that the better of the class amongst the backwards eats up most of the vacancies/seats reserved leaving the most backward with nothing in their hands.

• This may be illustrated and better explained by taking three students namely ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’. 

• Both ‘A’ & ‘B’ are equals in every manner as they come from well-to-do families having same kind of status, family background, education and financial capacity. ‘A’ being a general category candidate, qualifies for admission in higher education on merits whereas ‘B’ who belongs to a backward class competes and qualifies for admission in the reserved category. 

• The student ‘C’ who is also of the backward class but has no advantage as that which is available to both ‘A’ and ‘B’, despite competing in the backward category remains unsuccessful. He continues to remain unsuccessful in the following years as well, as again and again backward category candidates having the status equivalent to that of a forward class or that which is available to ‘A’ and ‘B’ keeps on qualifying leaving the most backward of the backwards far behind. 

• In this manner, the most backward of the backward category loses the battle even with the backward classes who are practically enjoying the status of the forward class people.

Nehru’s letter on reservation

• Supreme Court judge Justice Pankaj Mithal referred to a 1961 letter by Jawaharlal Nehru in which the former Prime Minister lamented the habit of giving reservations and privileges to any caste or group.

• Nehru, in his letter dated June 27, 1961, addressed to all the Chief Ministers of all the states, laments upon the habit of giving reservations and privileges to any caste or group and expresses that such practice ought to be given up and emphasis to help the citizens on economic considerations and not on caste basis and that the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes do deserve help but not in the shape of any kind of reservation, more particularly in services.

• In the same letter he went on to speak about two very important decisions, “one is, universal free elementary education that is the base; and the second is scholarship on a very wide scale at every grade of education to the bright boys and girls”. He went on to express that if reservation on communal and caste basis continues, India will remain second rate or third rate. 

• Some experts have pointed out that the State must evolve a policy of identifying the creamy layer even from the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes so as to exclude them from the benefit of reservation.

Views highlighted by Justice Mithal:

• The policy of reservation as enshrined under the Constitution and by its various amendments requires a fresh re-look and evolvement of other methods for helping and uplifting the depressed class or the downtrodden or the persons belonging to SC/ST/OBC communities. 

• In the Constitutional regime, there is no caste system and the country has moved into a casteless society except for the deeming provision under the Constitution for the limited purposes of affording reservation to the depressed class of persons, downtrodden or belonging to SC/ST/OBC. 

• Therefore, any facility or privilege for the promotion of the above categories of persons has to be on a totally different criteria other than the caste may be on economic or financial factors, status of living, vocation and the facilities available to each one of them based upon their place of living (urban or rural).

• The reservation, if any, has to be limited only for the first generation or one generation and if any generation in the family has taken advantage of the reservation and have achieved higher status, the benefit of reservation would not be logically available to the second generation. 

• It is reiterated that periodical exercise has to be undertaken to exclude the class of person who after taking advantage of reservation has come to march, shoulder to shoulder with the general category.

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