Page 294 - Failure to Triumph - Journey of A Student

communities as backward, to estimate the OBC population at 52%. In 1980 the commission submitted
a report, and recommended changes to the existing quotas, increasing them from 22% to 49.5%. As of
2006, number of castes in backward class list went up to 2297 which is an increase of 60% from
community list prepared by Mandal commission. But it wasn’t until the 1990s that the

recommendations of the Mandala Commission were implemented in Government Jobs by Vishwanath
Pratap Singh. Many states wanted to change their reservation policies, and in 2010 the Supreme Court
held that if the state wants to frame rules regarding reservation in promotions and consequential
seniority, it has to provide quantifiable data that there is backwardness, inadequacy of representation
in public employment and overall administrative inefficiency. Unless such an exercise is undertaken
by the state government, the rules in promotions and consequential seniority cannot be introduced.

The concept of untouchability was not practiced uniformly throughout the country; therefore the
identification of oppressed classes was difficult to carry out. Allegedly, the practice of segregation

and untouchability prevailed more in the Southern parts of India as opposed to Northern India.
Furthermore, certain castes/communities, considered ‘untouchable’ in one province were not in other
provinces. The continuous efforts of some of the social reformers of the country like Rettamalai
Srinivasa Paraiyar, Ayothidas Pandithar, Jyotiba Phule, Babasaheb Ambedkar, Chhatrapati Sahuji
Maharaj and others, worked to eradicate ‘casteism’.

According to the 2001 census, the SCs represented 16.20 per cent of the population and the STs
were 8.10 per cent. Some of the arguments/counter-arguments put forth by Anti-Reservationists and

Pro-Reservationists, are:

Anti-Reservationists Pro-Reservationists

‘Men should remain in the same
Lower castes no longer accept that their lower economic
occupation and station of their life as
status, lower position in the social hierarchy and lack of
their forefathers’ was a part of
respect from members of higher castes are a “given” in their
religious precepts and social customs
social existence.
long ago, in India.
Opponents are unhappy because they believe that an
arbitrary socio-economic injustice is being committed
The OBCs, on the other hand, argue
against them and in favour of those who have already
that they should get a greater share in
reached (or even gone beyond) a ‘level’ playing field, and administrative positions because
equality of opportunity is being eroded from the point such
political power resides in India’s
‘level’ ground was reached by individual members of a
administrative positions. They view
community that is only collectively labelled as
political power as a way to get
‘underprivileged’. They are against the reservations because
economic benefits, of which they have
not only appointments are made on the basis of membership
been deprived. [We need a thorough,
in a caste, but further promotions are also made on the
funded research on the quantum of
basis of mere membership of a community -- not
change in the economic condition of
considering the fact that the individual is, upon being ‘dalits’ during the 5-year tenure of a
appointed to the aforesaid ‘public’ post, no longer
dalit leader in Uttar Pradesh, in order
“socially or economically handicapped”.
to find out whether the above argument
They also believe that reservations are used for political
is supported by facts.]