Caste-based quota now at a Whole new level

The Centre’s decision to reserve 10 per cent seats in government jobs and educational institutions for the economically weaker sections just months ahead of the Lok Sabha elections is just what many academics and anti-quota activists have argued against: that politics should be kept out of any reservation policy.

Except in 1950 when the reservation policy was rolled out for the first time to help members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to break the centuries-old shackles of casteism, quotas have been used by almost all parties to reap electoral dividends.

Monday’s surprise move is also clearly aimed at polls, especially after the BJP suffered losses in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, states considered the saffron outfit’s bastions. Although the quota Bill is, on the face of it, caste and religion-agnostic, it is likely to mainly benefit the upper castes. So in a way, it is taking caste-based reservation to a whole new level.

Group-based reservations are provided  by parties keeping their electoral clout in mind. The UPA government in 2014 notified Jats as Other Backward Classes and gave five per cent quota to the community, although it was struck down by the Supreme Court later. And the BJP gave reservation to Gujjars in Rajasthan. While there is no denying that there are lots of poor people among the general castes whose concerns and aspirations need to be addressed, it is the timing of the quota that indicates the real intent.

Soon after the Maharashtra Assembly provided reservation for the Marathas last year, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi demanded quota for Muslims as, in his words, they have “lived for generations in poverty”. The Rajinder Sachar committee had stated Muslims were worse off than other communities on just about every socio-economic index. The TRS on Tuesday sought amendment to the quota bill in the Lok Sabha to include backward Muslims in its ambit. However, it is time parties kept politics out of reservation and give it, if at all, to only the deserving.