ALL INDIA POLITICAL PARTIES MEET BACKGROUND GUIDE

ALL INDIA POLITICAL PARTIES MEET BACKGROUND GUIDE

CONTENTS 1. Letter from the executive board 2. About the agenda: Reservations 3. Mandal commission 4. 2006 Anti-reservation protests 5. Implementation of Sachar committee recommendations 6. Jat agitation 7. Brief timeline of reservations in India 8. Constitutional provisions 9. Position paper guidelines

Letter from the executive board Dear Delegates, Welcome to the simulation of the All India Political Parties Meet at AMUN 2017. We, the Executive Board, decided to simulate this committee when the multi faceted debate it allowed became apparent to us. AIPPM is essentially a meeting of members from political parties across India that takes place outside the more formal legislative organs of the Indian Government. Due to its very nature, the debate that takes place within it is free of many restrictions, and instead acts as a platform where the diverse ideology of India s political parties surface. Hence, it is a useful tool to discuss issues of

national importance, free from the more tedious work of the Parliament. Another feature that drew the Executive Board to choose the AIPPM is that you, the delegates, get to step into the shoes of current Indian politicians. Contrary to committees where you represent a country, and mainly the party in power and their policies, in AIPPM you get the unique opportunity of seeing the politics of a country on multiple levels, which will help you understand the intricacies of India, and the complex beliefs that reside within it. This background guide will provide you with the basics of our agenda and make you more familiar with the kind of debate that will take place in committee. However, you should not restrict yourself to the information provided here.

Research beyond the background guide is important. Jai Hind, Chairpersons: Vikhyat Vij and Paranjay Sahanii Directors: Anisha Drall and Angad Vir Singh Rapporteur: Samridhi Sahgal

ABOUT THE AGENDA: RESERVATION Be it the Jat Protests, the live debates or the continuous controversy surrounding it, the term reservation is bound to ring a bell. Reservation is one of the most debated issues in the country. It is difficult to form an opinion on because there are a lot of different aspects to it. Reservation will be defined in legal terms later in this background guide, but basically, reservation(at the national level) refers to the act of limiting access to legislatures, educational institutes, and government jobs to certain groups of people, who in India fall under either Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

Reservation has many different aspects to it, as discussed above, such as reservation on the basis of caste, gender, religion, and socioeconomic conditions. It doesn t end here. The question of decreasing/increasing reservation comes into play, along with an analysis of how it can affect different people in different parts of the country. Reservation will definitely make for a highly engaging agenda, and you, as delegates, are sure to go back with a lot of knowledge about one of the most important issues facing the country today. MANDAL COMMISSION

The spirit behind the term backward classes is that the middle strata of the people have suffered and been ignored. The Janata Party, in its election manifesto in 1977, called for an end to caste inequalities. It promised a policy of special treatment in favour of the weaker sections of Indian society. The party promised to reserve between 25 and 33 per cent of all appointments to government services and educational opportunities for the backward classes. The Government of India, headed by the Janata Party, appointed a Backward Classes Commission under the chairmanship of B.P. Mandal, Member of Parliament, with a view to get definite recommendations by which it could implement its election promises. It was known as the Mandal Commission. In case a caste as a whole is found socially and

educationally backward, reservation for the entire caste can be allowed. The backward classes, including the non-hindu castes and excluding the SCs and STs, constitute 52 per cent of India s population, according to the Mandal report. The Commission recommended a reservation of 27 per cent of jobs and educational facilities for this 52 per cent population. This was done based on an estimation logic which was severely criticised as it was not rational in nature according to experts. It may be stated here that no caste-based census has been conducted after 1931 census. Therefore, no definite data is available about the OBCs. 2006 ANTI-RESERVATION PROTESTS The anti-caste-based-reservation protests 2006, that took place in parts of India, were in opposition

to the decision of the Union Government of India, the multiparty coalition 'United Progressive Alliance', to implement reservations for Other Backward Classes in central and private institutes of higher education. In the year 2005, based on the recommendations of the Mandal Commission, the government proposed to reserve 27% of seats in the All India Institute of Medical Studies (AIIMS), Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and other central institutions of higher education for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in order to help them gain higher levels of representation in these institutions. This move led to massive protests by those claiming that the government's proposal is discriminatory and driven by 'vote-bank' politics. The Anti-Reservation movement was triggered by the staff and students of AIIMS and IITs. It is to be

noted that more than 90% of faculty and 78% of students in these institutions were from the privileged castes. In other words, the campus was dominated by the privileged castes. Therefore,when the government announced OBC reservations, it meant that 50% of students will come from SC/ST/OBC category. These campuses, dominated by the privileged castes, erupted in protests. The protest by doctors and students lasted for two weeks and had disrupted services in many hospitals in Delhi and some other cities. At that time, 22.5% of college places were "reserved" for Dalits, or untouchables, who are at the bottom of India's caste hierarchy, and tribal students. As the new plan increased the number of places that would be set aside for lower caste Hindus known as other backward castes (OBCs) and other socially disadvantaged groups, the plan had the support of

millions of low-caste Indians who made up more than 50% of the country. IMPLEMENTATIONS OF SACHAR COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS: Marching Towards Inclusive Growth The Sachar Committee headed by Justice Rajinder Sachar, was appointed for preparation of a report on the social, economic and educational status of the Muslim community of India. The committee submitted its report in the year 2006. Welfare of Minorities, especially of the underprivileged section of them, has been put high on the agenda of the UPA Government ever since it adopted inclusive growth as its guiding principle of governance. Otherwise too, in every meaningful democracy, it s the duty of the state, and as a corollary, responsibility of the majority community to ensure the welfare of minorities so that all

sections of the society feel proud to be part of the democratic setup and thus contribute their best to the development of the nation. Specially in our historical context, where all communities and sections of people had marched shoulder to shoulder and laid down their lives in the War of Independence, the concept of Inclusive Growth becomes sine qua non for the roadmap of devel opment and progress. It was in this context that the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, had appointed in March 2005 a High Level Committee under the Chairmanship of Justice Rajindar Sachar to prepare a report on social, economic and educational status of the Muslim Community of India. This study was necessary because till then there was no authentic information on the social, economic and educational backwardness, of this

community, thereby hampering proper formulation and implementation of specific policies, interventions and programmes to address the issues relating to its socio-economic backwardness. This 7-member High Level Committee, popularly known as Sachar Committee, gave its report in November 2006 and it clearly found that the Muslim community was really seriously lagging behind in terms of most of the human development indicators. The Government immediately sensed the gravity of the problem and started working on the follow-up action in right earnest. Of the 76 recommendations of the Committee, 72 were accepted. Ministry of Minority Affairs being the nodal Ministry for examining these recommendations and in less than a year, i.e., on 31 August, 2007 a statement on the

follow-up action taken on the recommendations of the Sachar Committee was laid in both Houses of Parliament. The progress of implementation is being reviewed regularly. JAT AGITATION The Jat Agitation that took place in February 2016 was essentially a series of protests in North India, especially in Haryana, in which the protesters asked for inclusion in the Other Backward Class (OBC) category which made them eligible for affirmative action benefits. Affirmative Action measures and measures taken by the Indian Government can be referred to as positive discrimination.

These measures are special provisions taken by the State Governments and Centre for the betterment of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. In the Jat Riots of 2016, the protests were initially peaceful and confined to Haryana but soon spread to the National Capital Region. The agitation led to widespread violence and destruction as the community demanded reservations for government jobs. A BRIEF TIMELINE OF RESERVATION IN INDIA 1949-1st constitutional amendment,therefore Article 15 (4)) is introduced.

1953-Kalelkar Commission was created to assess the situation of the socially and educationally backward class. 1963 - Court put a 50% cap on reservations in the case of M R Balaji v Mysore AIR. Tamil Nadu (69%) and Rajasthan (68%) exceeded this limit. 1979-After the Kalelkar Commission,the Mandal Commission was established with same purpose. 1980-The commission submitted a report, and recommended changes to the existing quotas, increasing them from 22% to 49.5%.

1990-Mandal commission recommendations were implemented in Government Jobs by Vishwanath Pratap Singh. 1991-Narasimha Rao Government introduced 10% separate reservation for the Poor among Forward Castes. 1994-Supreme court advised Tamil Nadu to follow 50% limit in Reservation. 1995-Parliament according to the 77th Constitutional amendment inserted Article

(16(4(A))permitting reservation in promotions to the Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribes. 2005-The Supreme Court delivered a unanimous judgment by 7 judges on August 12, 2005 in the case of P.A. Inamdar & Ors. Vs. State of Maharashtra & Ors. declaring that the State can't impose its reservation policy on minority and nonminority unaided private colleges, including professional colleges. 2005-93rd Constitutional amendment was brought up for ensuring reservations.

2006-The number of castes in Backward class list went up to 2297 which is an increase of 60% from the community list prepared by the Mandal commission. 2006- The government proposed to reserve 27% of seats in the premier educational institutions of India like All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Other Medical Colleges, Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and other central institutions of higher education for the OBCs in order to help them gain higher levels of representation in these institutions.

This move led to massive protests, particularly from students and doctors belonging to the forward castes, who claimed that the government's proposal was discriminatory, discarded meritocracy and was driven by vote-bank politics. CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS There are two primary laws governing reservation in India. They are Article 15 and 16 of the Constitution. Article 15 primarily deals with protection against discrimination. 15(4) states: Nothing in this Article shall prevent the State from making any provision for the reservation of appointments or posts in favour of any backward class or citizens, which, in the opinion of the State, is not adequately

represented in the services under the State. This law essentially enabled states to make reservation in various institutions Article 16 primarily deals with equality in matters of public employment. Article 16(4 A) states that: Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any provisions for reservation in the matter of promotion to any class or classes of posts in the services under the State in favour of SCs and STs which in the opinion of the State are not adequately represented under the State (Constitutional 77th Amendment, - Act, 1995). This article essentially provided for reservation in public offices. The Constitution of India provides for specific representation through reservation of seats for the SCs and the STs in the Parliament (Article 330) and in the State Legislative Assemblies (Article 332), as

well as, in Government and public sector jobs, in both the federal and state Governments (Articles 16(4), 330(4) and 335). It is advised that these provisions are given a reading in order to better understand the scenario of reservation in India. In a case Balaji v/s State of Mysore (AIR 1963 SC 649) it was held that caste of a person cannot be the sole criteria for ascertaining whether a particular caste is backward or not. Determinants such as poverty, occupation, place of habitation may all be relevant factors to be taken into consideration. The court further held that it does not mean that if once a caste is considered to be backward it will continue to be backward for all other times. The government should review the test and if a class reaches the state of progress where reservation is not necessary it should delete that class from the list of backward classes.

POSITION PAPER GUIDELINES

Position papers are of utmost importance as they allow the Executive Board to roughly understand each delegates' capability views on the agenda. The following guidelines should be adhered to to write an effective paper that insightfully deals with the sensitive issues of the agenda at hand: 1. Begin the 1st paragraph with a brief history of the topic to introduce the conflict in your words. Write about how your party is related to the agenda, if it is, and why you think the conflict emerged to begin with. 2. Expand your body to talk about the current situation and what your politician plans to do about it. This is a good place to include any statistics and specific scenarios that may be critical to the agenda. Write about the various aspects of the

issue to be dealt with and how these issues have impacted humanity. 3. The 3rd paragraph or section is by far the most important section because it allows delegates to introduce solutions to combat the problems. Be creative, but at the same time, realistic. Research well, delegates. Do not hesitate to consult the executive board for any queries. Good luck!