Why reservation is needed in india

Are the SCs and STs adequately represented in the higher echelons of the civil services, academia, judiciary — both the Supreme Court and the high courts — police, policy-making, and other public services? Does employment in lower cadres indicate economic affluence and the end of social backwardness?

Has caste-based discrimination been completely wiped out from the Indian society? Has upper-caste monopoly in public institutions vanished in its entirety?

The appointment of a Dalit judge in the Supreme Court a fter almost a decade and his critical absence in the five-judge bench deciding on the reservation is telling of the misery of affluence and representative character of the public institutions.

The article is written by Radhika Bansal. She is a Journalism student in Amity University. Home Important News Why reservation is still necessary to uplift the depressed classes? Sharing is Important. Like this: Like Loading Related Posts. Let us investigate whether the views correspond to the intention of the constitution-makers. Article 16 4 of the constitution of India which provides for reservation reads as follows:.

Article 16 4 renders it clear that reservation was enacted to ensure adequate representation of backward classes in the public services.

Sharing of state power by the downtrodden was necessary because at the time of independence, the administration had been controlled by one community or a few communities only, as Ambedkar pointed out before the constituent assembly. However, why could the other candidates not join public services?

The delegates present in the constituent assembly enumerated different reasons for it. For instance, R. Nalavade and P. Kakkan shared their experiences and said that Harijans and candidates of other depressed classes are not selected. Explaining the saga of discrimination, H. Khandekar stated that:. Thus, it was not economic poverty but caste that accounted for their deprivation of government jobs. In such a situation, reservation was the only option to ensure entry and adequate representation of the candidates of SCs and STs in the state apparatus.

Realising the inevitability of reservation, A. Khan opined before the constituent assembly that,. Thus, in no case was reservation seen as a device to eradicate poverty, nor was it demanded in favour of the economically poor. It was brought in because without reserving a certain number of posts, the selection bodies which were monopolised by the so-called upper castes, would not recruit Dalits due to their ingrained class-bias. A few of them also emphasised upon economic and religious backwardness, however, reading the negotiating history of Article 16 4 as a whole, as explained above, it is evident that economic backwardness was neither an independent nor a dominant factor to qualify for reservation.

Coming now to SC reservation, it is true that SCs are looked down upon by many upper caste people and even by many OBCs and discriminated against, yet I am against any reservations for them for admissions in educational institutions or jobs. However, special facilities and help should be given to poor children of all castes even upper castes or religions, to ensure them a level playing field.

For instance, the child of poor parents may not have the money to buy school textbooks. He should, therefore, be provided the text books free of charge by the state.

This, however, is different from providing reservations on caste basis, which I strongly oppose, for the following reasons:. Reservations can only benefit less than 1 per cent SCs, while creating an illusion that all are benefited. SCs in India are about 22 crores, but reserved jobs for them would be only a few lakhs. In other words, an impression is created among SC youth that they need not study and work hard because even without doing so they will get admission or a job.

SCs must throw aside the crutches of reservation and say that they will work hard and show by competing with upper castes on merits that they are not intellectually inferior to upper castes. This naturally causes anguish in the former.