CHAPTER - V A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT OF RESERVATION AS A POLICY OF EMPOWERMENT OF DALITS

Transcription

1 CHAPTER - V A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT OF RESERVATION AS A POLICY OF EMPOWERMENT OF DALITS I. Introduction: Indian society is characterized by a high degree of structural inequality based upon the organization of people into caste and ethnic groups. The former, known as the caste system, is the social organization of Hindus who comprise more than 80 per cent of the Indian population. In this system, people are divided into social groups of castes and assigned hierarchal and unequal social positions and rights which are predetermined during birth. The caste system is highly exclusionary in nature: exclusion is integral to the system and thus, a consequence of its basic features. Social exclusion between caste groups is ensured through the practices of endogamy and social separation. In retrospect, every caste except those at the top of the caste hierarchy has suffered from unequal and hierarchal assignment of rights. The erstwhile untouchables, also known as the Scheduled Castes (SCs), having been located at the bottom of the caste hierarchy, are the ones who suffered the most. For instance, apart from manual labor and some occupations that were considered impure and polluting, the erstwhile untouchables were denied the right to do business or own property. They were even denied the right to education and civil, cultural and religious rights. Besides, they have been made to suffer from residential segregation and social isolation because they are considered impure and polluting and not fit for social association by the high castes (Ambedkar, 1936 and 1987; Akerlof, 1976; Lai, 1988; Scoville, 1991 and Thorat, 2005). 156

2 Another source of exclusion is linked with ethnic identity from which groups like the Adiwasis suffer. This group has been subjected to isolation, exclusion, neglect and underdevelopment owing to their geographical location and cultural exclusivity. Social exclusion in the case of this group has taken various forms: Including, denial of the right to resources around them as a result of the policies of the government and the societal processes. Deprivation arising out of caste and ethnic exclusion is suffered by these two groups of people even though they constitute one-fourth of the Indian population. In 2001, the SCs and the STs (Scheduled Tribes or the Adiwasis) accounted for 17 per cent and 8 per cent of the Indian population, respectively. Together they constituted one-fifth (250 million) of India s population: SCs, 167 million and STs, 86 million. There is another category of erstwhile untouchables who have either converted into the Sikh, Buddhist or Christian religion. They account for about 4 percent of India s population. Though technically they are outside the matrix of the Hindu social caste system, they continue to suffer from caste-based discrimination in certain spheres and are known as the ex-untouchable castes. The Government has made efforts to provide them certain benefits that they previously enjoyed, but not all. For instance, the ones who have converted into Sikhs and Buddhists continue to benefit from the affirmative action policy of Government. However, the Christian converts have been kept outside the safety net of affirmative action; hence, their petition for the consideration of inclusion in the list of those eligible for reservation still remains in the court. A third social group termed as the other backward castes has recently been awarded reservation in government jobs only. This policy also encompasses a group of backward Muslims. However, the author will confine himself to studying the SCs and STs owing to the lack of data on the backward Muslims economic status and employment situation in the government services. 157

3 Table 5.1: Caste, Ethnic group inequality, All India, 2000 (Figures in Percentage) SC ST Non SC/ST Source : Scheduled Caste : Schedule Tribes : Non Scheduled Castes /Scheduled Tribes : Employment and Unemployment Survey, and Consumption Expenditure Survey, New Delhi; Rural Labour Enquiry Report , National Labour, Shimla; National Family Planning and Health Survey ; International Population Research Institute, Bombay; Population Census, 2001, Registrar General of Population Census, 2005; Annual Report of Commission for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe 2005, Delhi, Thorat S.K. Persistence Poverty why do SC/STs stay Chronically Poor DFID Working Paper,

4 The historical nature of exclusion (and continuation of the same in some traditional forms if not all) of the excluded groups is responsible for the severe deprivation and poverty suffered by them. This is manifested in their lack of access to income earning capital assets (agricultural land and business); education; employment; lack of civil, cultural and political rights; and finally, in poverty and malnutrition. In general the SCs have limited access to ownership of capital assets and employment; they are less educated, suffer from high degree of poverty and are denied full civil, political and cultural rights even today. About 70 percent of the SCs live in the rural areas. In 2000, about 16 per cent of the SCs were self-employed cultivators and another 12 per cent were in non-farm business. Therefore, about 28 per cent had access to capital assets much lower than the 56 per cent for Non SC/ST group. The per household asset that is reflective of the disparity in wealth worked out to Rs. 49,180 for SCs as against Rs. 1, 34,500 for Non-SC/ST. Due to lack of ownership of assets more than 60 per cent of the SC households depend on casual wage labor, much higher than the one-fourths for others. Unemployment ratios among them is 5.5 per cent nearly twice that of other groups, i.e., 3.5 per cent. Only 51 per cent are literate as compared to 62 per cent for others. The cumulative impact of deprivation is reflected in the high incidences of poverty about 37 per cent among SCs as compared to only 20 per cent among others. High poverty leads to high infant and child mortality among the SCs (83 percent and 39 per cent respectively) as compared to others (61 per cent and 22 percent respectively). At least 56 per cent of SC women suffered from anemia. More than half of the SC children suffered from either malnutrition or under nutrition. The literacy rate among the SC population was 52 per cent as against 63 per cent among others in rural areas in The corresponding literacy rate for urban area was 68.5 and 81.5 per cent respectively. 159

5 Table 5.2: Incidences of Discrimination, Atrocities, and Crime against SC/STs (Number of Cases Registered) Source: Reports on Crime in India, National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs, Gol. New Delhi. 160

6 During , about 81,786 cases of atrocities were registered with the police by the SCs under Anti-Untouchability Act (or Civil Rights Act) of 1955 and Atrocity Act of In total, 2,85,871 cases of discrimination and violence had been registered. However, the actual magnitude is much higher, as is reflected in the primary studies (See Thorat, 1999). In the case of ST about 46 per cent of the tribals were poor as compared with 20 per cent for the others. The literacy rates among them were much lower, 45 per cent as compared to 62 per cent among others in rural area and 69 per cent and 81 per cent for urban area. The child mortality rates among them were the highest, 46 per cent as against 22 per cent among Non SC/ST. One of the main problems of tribal is land alienation and displacement induced by development. So far about 7.5 million ST persons have been displaced; which constitutes 40 per cent of the total person displaced. Out of this only about 1.85 million are resettled. III. Constitutional Provisions for the Empowerment of Dalits: India s affirmative action policy, more popularly known as Reservation Policy, is authored by the provisions in the Indian Constitution which was adopted in 1950, though its initiation at the country level dates back to the early 1930s. 2 The two important features of the provision in the constitution which needs to be acknowledged for the purpose of this working paper are: the principle of Nondiscrimination and Equal opportunity and the provisions enshrined in the Constitution empowering the State to take steps to ensure equal opportunity. Article 16 provides for equality of opportunity for all citizens in the matters relating to employment or appointment to any office under the State. It bans discrimination, particularly in any employment or appointment to any office under the state on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, residence, or any of them. 161

7 In fact Article 17 abolished the institution of untouchability which sanctified discrimination and exclusion of the erstwhile untouchables. The Article states: Untouchability is abolished and its practice in any form is forbidden. Accordingly, the Constitution empowered the state with the responsibility to ensure non-discrimination and equal opportunity in practice. Article 46, a Directive Principle of State Policy states: The State shall promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people, and, in particular, of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, and shall protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation. Such provisions in the constitution relates to government services, education, political representation and others. A) Government Services: The constitution provides for both appointment and promotion in the government services. Article 16 (4) empowers the State to make any provision for the reservation in appointments, or posts in favour of any backward class of citizens. Article 16 (4A) enables the State to make provision for reservation in matters of promotion to any group or groups of posts in the services under the State in favour of the SCs and STs. Article 335 states: The claims of the members of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes shall be taken into consideration, consistently with the maintenance of efficiency of administration, in the making of appointments of services and posts in connection with the affairs of the Union or of a State. B) Education: In the case of education, the provision relates to non-discrimination in educational institutions, equal representations, and measures for educational promotions. Article 15 (4) states that Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any special provision for the advancement of any socially and 162

8 educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. Article 29(2) provides protection for admission and against discrimination in any educational institution maintained by the State or receiving aid out of State funds on grounds only of religion, race, caste, language or any of them. C) Political Safeguards: The constitution empowers the State to take steps to provide due representation to the SC/STs. Various articles contains provisions for the reservation of seats for the SC/STs in the nation s legislative bodies in proportion to their population: Central Legislative Assembly (Article 330), Legislative Assembly of the States (Article 332), in Municipalities (Article 243 T), in various Panchayat (local self-government) level bodies, namely, village, taluk (block) and district (Article 243 D). IV. Reservation as a Policy of Empowerment of Dalits Employment, Education and Legislature: The Indian Government s approach towards the SC/ST population has primarily been shaped by the provisions in its Constitution which basically guarantees equality before the law, and empowers the State to make special provisions to promote the educational and economic interest of the SC/ST and to provide legal and other safeguards against discrimination in multiple spheres. The Government has applied a two fold strategy which includes: (a) Legal safeguards against discrimination, (b) Pro-active measures in the form of reservation policy for state sector and state supported sectors, and (c) Policy in the form of informal affirmative action for private sector (namely agriculture and private industry, in which more than 90 percent of the SC/ST workers are engaged) as part of a general developmental or empowering measure. 163

9 Anti-discriminatory measures include enactment of Anti-untouchability act of 1955 (renamed as protection of Civil Rights Act in 1979) and Schedule Caste/Tribe Prevention of Atrocities Act, Under the first Act, practice of untouchability and discrimination in public places and services is treated as offence. The second Act provides legal protection to SC/STs against violence and atrocities by the high castes. Reservation for both SC/ST in government services, educational institutions and political bodies like legislature also falls under ant-discriminatory, but pro-active measures. These pro-active measures have been used to ensure proportional participation of the SC/ST in various public domains. A) Reservation in Government Sector: It is important to note that the Indian affirmative action policy is confined to government and government aided sector of services and educational institutions; 3 the private jobs and educational institutions are completely excluded from the purview of the policy. Accordingly, the reservation policy is operative mainly in three spheres: government jobs, admission to public educational institutions and seats in central, state and local legislatures and bodies. Over a period of time, as the government sphere expanded, so did the scope of reservations to include newer spheres like: government housing, government spaces for shops and commercial activities and a number of other small spheres. The most important is the reservation in government services. Article 16(A) permits reservation in favour of backward castes and in pursuance of this provision, the Government has made reservation for SC/ST in proportion to their share of population (See Table 1 B). There is also reservation in promotion of employed persons. The government services generally include government civil service, public sector undertakings, statutory and semi-government bodies, voluntary agencies, etc. 164

10 which are under the control of the Government or receiving grant-in-aid. However, there are also certain services at the central level that do not come within the purview of reservation policy: these prominently include the defense and the judiciary. Reservation policy is accompanied by an array of other special provisions designed to facilitate and enhance the probability of the reserved groups to compete for government jobs. These include: relaxation of minimum age for entry into the service, relaxation in minimum standard of suitability within reasonable limits (subject to required minimum qualification), relaxation in fee, and provision for pre-examination training, separate interview for SC/ST persons, provision of expert from SC/ST background on selection committee and others. Table 5.3: Present Percentages of Reservation for SCs, STs and OBCs in Governmetn Services Source: Annual Report, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Government of India, New Delhi, , Chapter 5, Paragraph

11 B) Reservation in Education Sector: Second important sphere of reservation is in the education sector. Article 15(4) empowers the State to make special provisions for the advancement of the SC/STs. Under this provision, the State has reserved seats for SC/ST students in educational institutions: in colleges and universities, including technical, engineering and medical colleges run by the central and state governments and government aided educational institutions. These provisions are supported by a number of financial schemes which include scholarships, special hostels for SC/ST students, concession in fees, grants for books, remedial coaching, etc. C) Reservation in Legislative Bodies: Third most important sphere of reservation is representation in the central and state legislatures. A legislative reservation is one of the specific and mandatory constitutional provisions dedicated to SC/STs. Under Articles 330, 332 and 334 of the Constitution, seats are reserved for SC/STs in the central and state legislatures in direct proportion to their population size. Similarly, reservation is provided in local level bodies at the district, taluk and village levels. Constituencies (for the seat in parliament and state assemblies) are reserved for SC/STs in proportion to their share in population. Thus, at the all India level, out of the total number of parliamentary seats, 14 per cent and 7 per cent of constituencies (or seats) are earmarked for SC/STs respectively. Only the person from SC/ST community can contest from these reserved constituencies. For example, in 2004, of the total of 543 constituencies in the parliament, 75 were reserved for SCs and 41 for STs. The number of constituencies to be reserved is assessed in consultation with the population census which is conducted every ten year. The same procedure is followed at the state and sub-state level. For a constituency to be declared reserved, that constituency must fulfill one sole criterion, 166

12 i.e. the ratio of SC/ST population to the total population in the constituency must be comparatively large. The constitutional provision for reservation in legislative bodies for the SC/STs is complemented by statutory provisions which enhance political participation from the SC/ST population. For instance, they are required to make smaller election deposits. V. Implementation and Monitoring of Reservation Policy: The Central Government has developed administrative mechanisms for regulating, monitoring and implementing the reservation policy and other affiliated programmes. These institutions can be divided into: (a) ones that are directly involved in regulation (i.e., preparing rules relating to reservation from time to time) and monitoring the fulfillment of the required quotas in the central government services, (b) those acting as investigative agencies in the event of violation of reservation rules, and (c) those that are concerned with policymaking and overseeing the overall development of the SC/STs. 1) Department of Personnel and Training: The Department of Personal and Training (DOPT) is the division located in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievance and Pension. It regulates and monitors the reservation policy in government services. Its main function is to enforce or modify the rules, as well as, monitor the fulfillment of quotas as per given rules in central government services. Each ministry and government supported organization has an administrative unit known as the SC/ST Cell with liaison officers responsible for ensuring that instructions with regard to the implementation of reservation policy 167

13 are strictly complied with. The DOPT through the administrative heads of the ministries and organizations, monitor and regulate reservations at the central level. 2) National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Schedule Tribes: The other important independent organization is the National Commission for SC and ST. It functions as the investigating agency on specific complaints from SC/ST employees regarding service and promotion matters. The matters may be related to incidences of discrimination, violation of reservation policy, etc. The Commission has the power of functioning as a Civil Court and has the authority to summon an employer for enquiry and action. The Commission also oversees the development of SC/STs, prepares report about their progress annually, which is accordingly, discussed in the Parliament. 3) Committee of Parliament on Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes: Committee of Parliament on Welfare of SCs /STs is another body (comprising of SC/ST Members of Parliament) entrusted with the task of examining the progress regarding the representation of SC/STs. It attempts to make suitable recommendations for effective implementation of policies and programmes. 4) Ministry Social Justice and Empowerment and Ministry of Tribal Affairs At the policy framing level are the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Ministry of Tribal Affair and Committee of Parliament on Welfare of SCs/STs. The Ministries are the nodal bodies which oversee the task for the development of the SC/STs. The ministries are responsible for the overall development of the SC/ST population. They carry out various schemes related to education, and economic development. 168

14 5) Planning Commission, Backward Caste Division The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and the Ministry of Tribal Affairs work in close collaboration with the Planning Commission (PC) of India; the PC has a special Backward Caste Division that oversees the work of economic planning related to regulation and implementation of the reservation policy. 6) Financial Mechanisms: Funds for the operation of reservation policy and for general development programmes of SC/STs come through the annual budget of the Government. The Government has created a special financial mechanism in the form of Special Component Plan (SCP) for SCs and Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) for STs as part of its five year plan. The SCP and TSP are designed to channelize the flow of funds (and hence, the benefits) from the general sectors towards the plans of states and central ministries for development of SCs and STs. The funds for the annual plans in the case of divisible schemes/programmes are supposed to be allocated in proportion to their population share. The SCP and TSP and Special Central Assistance (SCA) to SCP and TSP are two innovative strategies to ensure additional flow of funds. The SCP, introduced in 1979/80 and TSP few years earlier, involve population proportionate funds from the general development sectors for the overall development of SC/STs. The SCA is extended to states as 100 per cent grant to fill the critical gaps in important programmes. So far, 14 Central ministries/ departments and 27 states/union territories have been earmarking funds under the SCP. The expenditure on implementation of reservation policy is also included in this allocation of fund under SCP and TSP. The Government budget, however, does not provide separate data on the funds utilized for implementation of reservation policy. 169

15 Both the central and state governments have not earmarked adequate funds for SC/ST. As against a 16 per cent population share of the SC, only 11 per cent was allocated as flow from central plan (in respect of 14 ministries) to SCP, and flow from state plan to SCP (in respect of 24 states) during Similarly, as against an 8 per cent population share of the ST, only about 5 per cent fund has been allocated as flow from central plan (in respect of 14 ministries) to TSP and about 11 per cent flow from state plan to TSP during Thus, the actual allocation of funds under the SCP and TSP was much lower than what was initially planned; i.e. to allocate population proportionate funds. The Government has also created separate financial institutions to channelize funds towards targeted programmes of SC/STs. These include National SC/ST Finance and Development Corporation (NSFDC), Scheduled Castes and Tribes Development Corporation (SCTDCs) National Safai Karamacharis Finance and Development Corporation (NSKFDC). VI. Impact of Reservation on Dalit Empowerment: In this section we will first examine the impact of the reservation policy on the employment sector, the education sector and the legislature. Later, an attempt will be made to discuss the status of the informal affirmative action policy in the private sector. Finally, attempt will be made to assess the aggregate impact of both formal and informal affirmative action policies on SC/STs by using the indicators of human development. A) Employment Sector To begin with the employment sector, there has been a striking increase in the numbers of SC/ST government employees. In 1960, there were 2,18,000 SC employees which increased to 6,41,000 in 1991 and 5,40,000 in The corresponding increase in the percentage of SC employees to total government employees increased from 12 per cent in 1956 to about 16 per cent in 2003 fairly proportionate to their percentage share in 170

16 population. In the case of ST, the numbers increased from about 3,80,000 in 1960 to 2,03,000 in 1991 and further up to 2,11,000 in 2003; a corresponding increase in percentage from 2 per cent in 1960 to 6 per cent in Similarly, the number of employees in public sector undertaking has increased from 40,000 in 1970 to 2,96,000 in 2003 for SC and from 12,000 to 1,38,000 for ST during the respective years. In case of nationalized banks, the number has increased from 4,000 in 1972 to 1,43,000 in 2000 for SC and from 400 to 43,000 for ST during the same period. The corresponding percentage has increased from 1.89 to per cent for SC and from per cent to 4 per cent for ST. Similarly, the number of SC employees in nationalized banks increased from 55,000 in 1978 (10 per cent) to l,33,000 in 2004 (17 per cent) and for ST the number increased from 8,000 (1.5 per cent) to 44,000 (5.72 per cent). In public insurance companies the number of SC employees increased from 14 thousands in 1993 (14 per cent) to 20 thousands (16 per cent) in The number of ST employees increased from 5,000 (5 per cent) to 8,000 (6 per cent) during the same period. If we take the total number of employees in three services government, public sector undertaking and public sector banks we will notice that the number of employees in these three services has increased from 7,88,000 to 9,10,000 for SCs and from 2,45,000 to 3,69,000 for STs during the period, The percentage of total employees also improved between 1978 and 2004; from 15 per cent to 17 per cent in the case of SCs and from 4.7 per cent to 6.9 per cent in the case of STs. If we also include the public sector insurance companies along with the aforementioned three services, then the aggregate number of employees in the employment sector for the year 2000 (the latest year for which comparable data is available) comes to 10,70,000 for SCs and 423,000 for STs. It may be mentioned that these do not include many other government spheres like educational institutions and others. If we did, the absolute number of employees in reserved seats will increase further. 171

17 Table 5.4: Reservations in Employment in Government Jobs (Combined) Source: Annual Report Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, , and ; Annual Reports, Ministry of Finance, 1978 and ; Annual Reports, Public Enterprises Survey, , , , , to , Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public 172

18 Table 5.5: Total Government Employees (Decadal Point to Point) Source: Annual Report Ministry of Personal, Public Grievances and Pensions, Annual Report Ministry of Finance and Public Enterprises Survey, Annual Report Vol. I, Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Interprises, Gol., New Delhi, Table 5.6: Combined Government Employment (Decadal Point to Point in Absolute Numbers) Source: Annual Report Ministry of Personal, Public Grievances and Pensions, Annual Report Ministry of Finance and Public Enterprises Survey, Annual Report Vol. I, Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Interprises, Gol., New Delhi, Table 5.7: Percentage of Combined Government Employments including Insurance * Percentage of government employees in insurance Source: Annual Report Ministry of Personal, Public Grievances and Pensions, Annual Report Ministry of Finance and Public Enterprises Survey, Annual Report Vol. I, Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Interprises, Gol., New Delhi,

19 Table 5.8: SC Central Government Employment (Decadal Point to Point by Categories) Source: Annual Report, 1985/86, 1989/ /2005, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievences and Pension, Gol, New Delhi. Table 5.9: Percentage Distribution of SC Employees in Central Government Jobs (By Categories) Source: Annual Report, 1985/86, 1989/ /2005, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievences and Pension, Gol, New Delhi. 174

20 Table 5.10: ST Government Employment (Decadal Point to Point) (By Categories) Source: Annual Report, 1985/86, 1989/ /2005, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievences and Pension, Gol, New Delhi. Table 5.11: Percentage Share of ST in Central Government Jobs (By Categories) Source: Annual Reports Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, , and ; Annual Reports, Ministry of Finance, 1978 and ; Annual Reports, Public Enterprises Survey, , , , , to , Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public 175

21 Table 5.12: PSEs Employment (Decadal Point to Point) Source: Publci Enterprises Survey, Annual Report, Volume 1, Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, , , , , to , New Delhi Table 5.13: Percentage Distribution of SC Employees in PSEs, (By Categories) Source: Publci Enterprises Survey, Annual Report, Volume 1, Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, , , , , to , New Delhi Table 5.14: PSEs Employment (Decadal Point to Point) Source: Publci Enterprises Survey, Annual Report, Volume 1, Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, , , , , to , New Delhi 176

22 Table 5.15: Percentage of ST Employees in PSEs, (By Categories) Source: Publci Enterprises Survey, Annual Report, Volume 1, Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, , , , , to , New Delhi Table 5.16: SC Bank Employees (Decadal Point to Point by Categories) Source: Annual Report /2005, Ministry of Finance, Gol. Table 5.17: Percentage Distribution of SC Employees in Public Sector Banks (By Categories) Source: Annual Report /2005, Ministry of Finance, Gol. Table 5.18: ST Bank Employees (Decadal Point to Point by Categories) Source: Annual Report /2005, Ministry of Finance, Gol. 177

23 Table 5.19: Percentage Distribution of ST Employees in Public Sector Banks (By Categories) Source: Annual Report /2005, Ministry of Finance, Gol. Table 5.20: SC Insurance Employment, (Decadal Point to Point by Category) Source: Annual Report /2005, Ministry of Finance, Gol. Table 5.21: Percentage Distribution of SC Employees in Insurance Jobs (By Categories) Source: Annual Report /2005, Ministry of Finance, Gol. Table 5.22: ST Insurance Employment, (Decadal Point to Point by Categories) Source: Annual Report /2005, Ministry of Finance, Gol. Table 5.23: Percentage Distribution of ST Employees in Insurance Jobs (By Categories) Source: Annual Report /2005, Ministry of Finance, Gol. 178

24 Thus, during the last fifty years or so, the share of SC/STs in the government services has improved quite significantly. There are, however, variations between different types of jobs. Generally, reservation is fairly proportionate to the required percentage in group C and D jobs, but unsatisfactory in the case of A and B category jobs. For effective implementation of reservation policy in jobs, the Government has tried to developed some safeguards which include maintenance of Model Roaster for identifying posts under reservation, separate interview of SC/ST candidates, special office with liaison officers to oversee Reservation policy in each office, representatives of SC/STs on selection boards, banning de-reservation of reserved posts, banning the full exchange of posts with general category candidates if SC/ST category are not available and other measures. However, reservation in employment and educational institutions, fall short of the target in some categories of jobs. There is a tendency towards clustering of reservations in certain categories of services, departments and grades. For instance, in 2003, the lower categories of jobs, i.e., C and D grade posts, accounted for almost 95 per cent of the total SC/ST posts under reservation in government. Though the target in case of grade C and D jobs are fairly close to the reservation percentage earmarked: 16 per cent for SCs and 8 per cent for STs, but in grade A and B jobs, and also in several categories of technical and university jobs, the fulfillment of quotas fell short. Also, the slow pace of the process of achieving reservation is a major impediment to fulfilling reservation quotas. Implementation of reservations at the practical level faces immense resistance from various spheres. This is reflected in the delay in making provisions, in filling up the posts and resorting to courts for implementation. The magnitude of resistance is much intense in higher-grade jobs and more so, in technical educational institutions. It is less in lower categories of jobs and in admissions 179

25 to institutions other than technical. Delay and resistance in provision making and in filling up posts is particularly prevalent in the case of State aided autonomous institutions which are required to get approval of their decision making bodies for reservation. B) Education: In the case of admission in educational institutions, the availability of assessments about the impact of reservation in higher education is limited. The limited evidence indicates that the student enrolment has increased under reservation.. In 1981, one estimate put the proportion of graduate students around 3.3 per cent for SCs and 0.8 per cent for STs which is highly disproportionate to the actual population share of SC/STs. By the late 1990 s, the proportion of SC students to the total number of students enrolled rose to 7.8 per cent and for the STs, it rose to 2.7 per cent. This is nevertheless low if we look at the actual share of the SC/ST population to the total population 16 per cent and 8 per cent respectively. Hence, it is difficult to estimate how many SC/ST students have benefited by the reservation policy. One estimate indicates that in 1996/97, roughly 5,10,000 SC students and 1,80,000 ST students were enrolled. Of these, roughly about 2,00,000 students from both the categories may have been enrolled in desirable programmes in higher education where reservation matters. Weiss Kopf (2005) estimates conclude that about a third of SC/ST students enrolled in universities were pursuing higher education in desirable programmes because of the reservation policy. This implies that out of the approximately 7,00,000 SC/ST students attending universities, only a portion of them are enrolled into programmes of their choice; SC/STs obtain a much lower share in preferred institutions. In many cases, despite reservation being the norm, it is accepted only in theory and defies implementation of any sorts. Therefore, there is a substantial amount of catching up to do in order to reach the required level of 16 per cent and 8 per cent reservation for SC/STs. 180

26 C) Legislature: The constitutional provisions for reservation in public sector employment and educational institutions are mere authorizations empowering the State to make special provisions in favour of discriminated groups. But, the legislative reservations are specifically provided in the Constitution itself. Legislative seats in each state are reserved in proportion to the population of SC/STs in the state. Thus, in 2004, 75 seats (13.81 per cent) of 543 seats in Lok Sabha were reserved for SCs and 41 seats (7.55 per cent) for STs. Of the total number of seats reserved in all the states legislative assemblies (Vidhan Sabhas), more than 2000 seats were reserved for SC and STs. In the case of political reservation, two problems continue to receive attention. Firstly, the Government has been delaying the updating of the percentage share of seats for SC/STs in the central and state legislatures as per the recent changes in population figures. The present allocation of seats for SC/ST is based on the population census of 1981, whereby the population share of SCs is about 14 per cent and STs about 7.55 per cent. Whereas, according to the latest population census of 2001, their population is about 17 per cent for SCs and 8.50 per cent for STs. Thus, both groups continue to suffer from under-representation in central and state legislatures. Table 5.24: Member of Parliament by Social Groups from 5 th to 14 th Parliament, All India Source: 181

27 Another issue relates to the quality of representation afforded by the SC/ST representatives in the legislative bodies. Of course, it cannot be denied that political reservation does provide substantial quantitative presence of the SC/STs in the legislative bodies, which would otherwise have been completely nil, if not for political reservations. Nonetheless, the activities of SC/ST representatives are presumably microscopic and concentrated on matters that affect these groups only. Also, their effectiveness in representing the interests of the marginalised groups is most evident in their dealings on matters directly related to their welfare. However, there have been studies that have made the observation that there is a problem of low participation, less articulation, less assertiveness and less independence of SC/ST representatives than their colleagues belonging to high castes. To the extent that the problem of quality of representation exists, it may be attributed to the structural constraints imposed by the arrangement for reserved seats or the method of election under reservation (Galanter, 1991). Often, a legislator elected through reserved seat, especially a SC, is responsible to and dependent upon a constituency made up overwhelmingly of nonmembers (or high caste members). To the extent that the legislator is dependent on high caste vote and is thus, obliged to support them; thus a SC legislative candidate suffers from the limitation of not being able to represent fully the interests of SC/STs, who themselves happen to be a minority in most of the reserved constituencies. This arrangement acts as a filter in keeping the divergent interests of these groups from unifying and checks direct and forceful expression of their grievances and interests. It is precisely because of this limitation of political reservation that Dr. Ambedkar had suggested an alternative arrangement or method of election of 182

28 SC/ST representatives, namely separate electorate as against reservation of seats. The separate electorate would have ensured the representation of more independent and representative legislature of SC/STs in legislature. 4 D) Reservation in Private Sector Affirmative Action Policy One of the general qualms about public sector reservation policy in employment and admission to educational Institutions is that it applies to a tiny government and government supported sectors and excludes a large private sector. For instance, in employment, the reservation policy excludes private employment where more than 90 per cent of the SC/ST workforce is engaged; with the result that there is lack of protection against practices of exclusion and discrimination in the private sector. 5 There is notable exclusion in the following sectors private industrial, services and agricultural. Similarly, the entire private owned educational institutions are excluded from the provision of reservation policy. It is only after the introduction of policy of privatization and back-door de-reservation of government employment in the early 1990s that the demand for reservation in private sector has picked up. And at present, the Government has set up Group of Ministers to develop a consensus between the Government and the private sector for adoption of Affirmative Action Policy for private sector. 6 The informal type of affirmative action policy in the private sector, with a group target approach, has helped the SC/STs to some extent. However, the net gains are limited in nature since the disparities between the SC/STs and the non-sc/sts, with respect to the main indicators of human development, continue. It is rather difficult to disaggregate the impact of informal affirmative action policy, as well as, of formal reservation policy, on the human development of SC/STs. 183

29 E) Human Development of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes: It is possible to look at some of the indicators of human development in order to capture the aggregate impact of formal and informal affirmative action policies, as well as, the general economic and social development trends. Over time, there has been a positive improvement in the human development of SC/STs. The positive changes are reflected in the aggregate indicators of human development income level, employment, social needs like education and health, and ultimately, in poverty. During 1983/84 and 1999/2000, we observed an improvement in the monthly per capita consumption expenditure (proxy indicator for income), literacy rate and incidence of poverty of SC/STs. As mentioned earlier, the share of SC/ST employees in government sector has significantly improved and apparently, it had positive multiplier effects on the social and economic situation of these two disadvantaged groups. However, it needs to be recognized that, although there has been some improvement as reflected in some of these indicators, improvement in relation to non SC/ST is low, or lower than the rate which is required to bridge the gap between SC/ST and Non SC/ST groups. Hence, the disparities between SC/STs and non SC/ST have not been reduced substantially so as to bridge the gap to a reasonable level. Consequently, the socially marginalized groups of SC/STs lag behind the non SC/ST section of the Indian population with respect to attaining the desirable level in human development. For instance, in 2000, the infant mortality rate was higher among the SC/ STs as compared to non SC/ST. Similarly, compared with non SC/ST, the literacy rate among the SC/STs is lower by 14 per cent and 21 per cent, respectively. The SC/STs monthly per-capita expenditure is less by about 25 per cent and 34 per cent respectively, as compared with consumption expenditure of non SC/ST. Again compared with non SC/ST, the incidence of aggregate poverty is 70 per cent and 184

30 about 100 per cent higher among the SC/STs respectively. The percentage of undernourished children among the SC/STs is higher by 23 per cent and 27 per cent, respectively. Finally, the SC/STs access to public health services, compared with non SC/ST, is less by 23 per cent and 44 per cent. Thus, despite an improvement at the level of individual indicators, the level of human development among the SC/STs as compared to non SC/ST in 2000 is relatively lower. VI. General Concerns Regarding the Reservation and Dalit Empowerment: Besides sector specific issues, there are other general issues pertaining to implementation of reservations in employment, education and other spheres that need attention. 1) Problems of Access and Exclusion: It appears that the continuing disparities in the attainment level are closely linked to the lower access of the socially marginalized groups of SC/STs to sources of income and human resource capabilities (such as, capital assets like agricultural land), non land assets, lower urbanization, employment diversification away from agriculture, exceptionally high dependence on casual wage labour, higher underemployment, lower daily wages, particularly, in non farm activities, low level of literacy and low level of education, compared with Non SC/ST groups (See Table No. 5.1). The empirical evidence also shows that low access to resources, employment and education of marginalized groups, as compared to Non SC/ST groups, is closely linked with the processes of exclusion and discrimination; partly carried forward as residual of old caste system to the present. In economic spheres, the empirical evidence points towards the evidence of exclusion and differential treatment in various markets namely agricultural land, capital, employment, market in consumer 185

31 goods, as well as, the transactions conducted through non-market channels. Discrimination is also experienced by SCs while trying to access public services in education, health, water sources, and participation in political institutions. 2) Discrimination and Atrocities: The SCs also experience the fangs of violence and atrocity during their attempts to secure human rights and lawful entitlements. The negative experiences, therefore, assume a variety of forms: ranging from social and economic boycott to physical violence (Thorat, 2005 (a), 2005 (b). About the forms of violence and kinds of atrocities, the observations in the Report of the Commission for SC/STs, 1998, are worth mentioning: Some of the major causes of atrocities and other offences against SC/STs are related to issues of land and property, access to water, wage payments, indebtedness and bonded or forced labour. Issues of human dignity, including compulsion to perform distasteful tasks traditionally forced on SCs, and molestation and exploitation of Dalit women are also involved. Caste related tension is exacerbated by economic factors, which contribute to violence. 3) Problems of Justice: Despite legal measures in seeking legal safeguards against discrimination in employment, education and other spheres, the SC/STs continue to suffer from discriminatory access to the institutions of justices which are responsible for delivering justice. Studies relating to this aspect of discrimination indicate that SC/STs are generally faced with insurmountable obstacles in their efforts to seek justice in event of discrimination: during registration of a legal case or while taking up matters at various levels of the institutional setup, for e.g., before the police, the public prosecutors and other official functionaries. Official statistics and various 186

32 studies based on primary surveys highlight the following characteristics regarding the institutions of justice: The data present in Civil Rights cases shows that, of the total cases registered in 1991, only 1.56 per cent were convicted. In fact, the conviction rate had come down to 0.60 per cent in 1999 and 0.85 per cent in The conviction rate in the cases relating to discrimination and atrocities is less than one per cent. A study based on the analysis of 100 documented cases of discrimination in Andhra Pradesh during , throws some light on the causes for the low rate of conviction. The study observed that the case studies indicated a disturbing trend of subversion of the rights of Dalit to justice and compensation under the law once an atrocity takes place (Agrawal and Gonsalves, 2005). It revealed truths about negligence at the stage of registration, charge-sheeting and investigation, while seeking justice before the law of the court and while giving compensations. It also exposed violations by the police in refusing registration of cases, in pressurizing a Dalit to compromise, foisting false cases, refusing to register cases under the SC/ST Atrocity Act, not citing proper section of Act, not arresting the accused, shielding public servants from arrest, not following rules of investigation, not conducting inquiry of the incidence for compensation, not providing allowances, and ignoring the consequences of atrocities in terms of social boycotts (Agrawal and Gonsalves, 2005, Dalit Human Rights Monitor, 2003). 4) Extension of Reservation: Political reservation has a time limit. Initially, when it was drafted, reservation was provided for a ten year period, with a provision for extension after every ten years. Accordingly, since the initiation of reservation for the first time in 1937, it has been extended after every ten years. The present extension is up to However, the ten 187

33 year limit is not applicable to reservation in government services and governmental educational institutions. While the Constitution made a general provision for adequate share to be provided for the SC/STs, it is left to the discretion of the Government to decide when the reservation policy could be called off; which could be done as and when it believed that discrimination against the SC/STs may no longer be a major problem and that they are adequately empowered, and have received due representation and participation in normal course. The same criterion was to be utilized for the extension/calling off of reservation in legislature after every ten year. It is necessary to recognize that although there is a minority view that expresses concern about the indefinite extension of reservations, the dominant view is and has remained in favour of extension. The latter support reservation as long as discrimination and social exclusion of SC/STs persists. And since social exclusion and discrimination of SC/STs is prevalent on a large scale in multiple spheres and that these groups continue to be deprived of basic rights, there is general support in the Government for reservation policy without time consideration. In fact, given the exclusivist character of the Indian social order, reservation in government services have been extended to include other groups: Other Backward Castes (OBCs, who constitute 27 per cent of India s population); SCs who have converted into Sikhism and Buddhism; and the backward caste Muslims. The case for reservation for SCs who have converted to Christianity is presently under consideration. Some states have already announced reservation in government services for Muslims in a limited scale. However, there is a difference of opinion regarding the targeting of reservation within the group that has already been identified for reservation. For example, within the OBCs, the relatively better-off classes are termed creamy layer and are thus, 188