- The reservation conundrum in the government jobs and education never takes a backseat ever since the country’s founding fathers opted to introduce an extremely simple standard to define the fundamental right to equality. For the uninitiated, the Indian Constitution did not provide for any special dispensations rather the status quo was breached by the political exigencies by successive governments altering the equality factor with dubious intentions. Unfortunately, the situation continues to be exploited by the political milking to date is not lost on the comprehending people.
- One of the very first constitutional amendments was introduced to create a special dispensation for socially and educationally backward classes aimed at providing for reservation in education and government jobs to compensate for centuries of suppression perpetrated on many untouchable communities. History is replete with embarrassing instances of how upper castes perpetrated inhuman atrocities on the supposedly lower strata of the society for centuries. The intention behind the thought process back then was to provide a platform for these communities to feel and act on the level playing field without any dissimilarities.
PC: Ajay Kumar
- What was started as a novel and uplifting measure has steadily paved the way for expansion of reservation that has been capped at 50 percent by the Supreme Court which is once again hearing a slew of petitions to further expand the ambit of reservation beyond the cap. The Supreme Court has sought views from all State Governments, and the Central Government has backed the contemplated move to extend the cap beyond 50 percent. A five-judge constitution bench is weighing arguments in a case where Maharashtra expanded the reservation limit for socially and educationally backward groups beyond 50 percent for the Maratha community.
- It is no rocket science to infer that the already extremely high ceiling for special dispensations cannot be allowed to extend beyond which will otherwise be coming into being only at the cost of merit and the right to equality. The political parties for a change are unanimous in backing the move based on identity which they are most adept at to consolidate vote banks largely based on caste politics. The Supreme Court must resist this populist push without allowing the constitutional values to get diluted under the quote deluge.
PC: Jennifer Anderson
- The 50 percent cap has already been breached when an amendment was passed providing an additional 10 percent reservation for economically weaker sections including from upper echelons of the communities. This amendment too is challenged and a separate SC bench is all set to hear the case as well. Most worryingly, there are sporadic cases of socially dominant groups agitating for inclusion in reserved categories as witnessed recently in Karnataka. The resultant outcome of the lopsided reservation milieu has allowed dominant groups to gain at the expense of others in the reservation sweepstakes.
- The modern-day society in the technologically driven environment offers numerous opportunities to excel at chosen fields for the hardworking individuals’ challenging their intellect to pursue without having to get bracketed along with the group identities. Genuine talent purely based on individual initiatives needs encouragement rather than deny the same by adopting even more reservations. Therefore, the SC should call the bluff of the political parties bypassing strictures against the move to expand reservations beyond 50 percent aptly behooving its status as a true upholder of the Constitution. Over to the Supreme Court now!
