This winter session of the Indian Parliament approved a new reservation policy, with the passing of the Constitution (124 Amendment) Bill, 2019, to reserve 10% seats for economically weaker sections of the society, in higher educational institutions. The Act amends Articles 15 and 16 of the Constitution, by adding a clause which allows states to make a “special provision for the advancement of any economically weaker sections of citizens”.
By calling it a victory for social justice, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted,
Passage of The Constitution (One Hundred And Twenty-Fourth Amendment) Bill, 2019 in both Houses of Parliament is a victory for social justice.
It ensures a wider canvas for our Yuva Shakti to showcase their prowess and contribute towards India’s transformation.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 9, 2019
It is indeed a historic move, not just for the economically weak, but also for the way the Indian parliament executed the amendment, for it was passed within 48 hours of being introduced in the Lok Sabha, without much debate, concerns and scrutiny.
Reactions To The Bill:
Talking about the policy, social and political activist, Yogendra Yadav stated, “This is not even a lollipop gifted to voters, it’s a lollipop lying in your pocket that’s being presented to you as a gift”. The Congress and some other opposition parties also commented that the 10% reservation policy is just a political gimmick for the upcoming General Election 2019. On the other hand, Law Minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad, responded to the opposition’s charges, by terming the government move a “slog-over six”, with many more to come.
The Criteria For 10% Reservation For General Category And Some Other Serious Questions
It’s important to figure out how beneficial exactly the Bill will be. It poses some serious questions too, basis the criteria it has set:
Criterion 1: People whose household annual income is less than 8 lakh per year, which translates to ₹ 66,666 per month.
Facts – According to the 2011-12 NSSO report, key indicators of Household Consumer Expenditure, the per capita income of the top 5% of Indians stands at just ₹ 4,481 in rural areas and ₹10,281 in urban areas. This means that even if a household boasts of five earning members, the family’s monthly income won’t exceed ₹ 51,405, which is much lower than the limit set under the new reservation norm. Moreover, the Socio-Economic Caste Census 2011 revealed that only 8.25% of rural households have a monthly income of more than ₹10,000.
Again, Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley, placed some data in 2017, where he stated that only 76 lakh Indians earned an income of over ₹5 lakh.
As per these reports, almost 99% population of India earns less than 8 lakh annually. We can assume that, more or less, 90% people of general category falls under this reservation policy.
Criterion 2: Agricultural lands should be less than 5 acres.
Facts – According to the Agriculture Census 2015-16, released last September, a whopping 86% of land holdings in India are smaller than the prescribed limit of 5 acres, and would be eligible for the proposed quota.
Criteria 3 and 4: House should be smaller than 1,000 sq. ft. Again, a residential plot should be smaller than 100 yards in a municipality, or a plot of less than 200 yards in a non-notified municipality.
Facts – Some people have a residential plot of more than 1,000 square feet, but that’s probably less than 20% of the country’s population. The 2012 NSSO report on housing conditions showed that the richest 20% of Indians lived in houses with an average floor area of only 500 sq ft.
Questions That Need To Be Answered
What kind of reservation policy is this, considering more than the majority of the population would be a part of the reserved category!
- What is the point of a new reservation which includes such a huge population?
- Almost all the people, who belong to the general category, and were earlier competing for the 50% un-reserved seats, will now compete for this 10% reservation. So, what is the point?
- The purpose of caste-based reservation is the upliftment of the socially weaker sections and elimination of discrimination. Still, the question is, how far has it been able to achieve its goal. If it has not really helped achieve the desired equality, should reservation be given at all, in the first place?
- There will be no direct income tax for individuals who earn up to ₹5 lakh annually, as per the 2019-20 interim budget. But, the newly proposed reservation policy pointed out that those who earn ₹8 lakh annually (household income) are the economically weak. There is a serious contradiction here!
- According to the new reservation policy, it seems that more or less, 10% unreserved category people own more wealth than the almost 90% reserved people. So how far is the new reservation policy justified?
Challenges Before Implementation
*Supreme Court had ruled that the Constitution makes no case for a quota on economic grounds, and only talks of educational and social backwardness.
* In the famous Indra Sawhney judgement, the apex court had set a cap of 50% on quotas.
* The decision, when implemented, will increase reservation quota to 60%, from the existing 50%.
The Indian Youth Needs Better Job Opportunities, Not Reservation!
According to the data put out by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), about 1.5 million jobs were lost during January-April 2017, and 11 million people were added to the pool of unemployed Indians in 2018. Therefore, India requires more jobs, more than the growth of reservations.
It is also important to make available the data of job opportunities and crisis on the public domain, from where India can decide a specific and a better-managed move to resolve the problem. That is what the government needs to focus on, instead of playing political gimmicks and stunts. Zero opportunity with 10% reservation will only lead to 0% jobs.
Recently, a report said that India’s unemployment rate hit a 45-year high in 2017-18. The assessment by the National Sample Survey Office conducted between July 2017-June 2018, showed that the unemployment rate stood at 6.1%, the highest since 1972-73.
According to the NDTV, the NSSO’s annual household survey of 2017-18, is the first since the demonetization in November 2016, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared an overnight ban on high-value notes.
As per The Quint, this brings fresh criticism for the current government’s action plan. It also highlighted that the controversy after two National Statistical Commission (NSC) members, including the acting chairman, resigned on Monday, 28 January.
To conclude, critique says that the BJP led government put this amendment to secure their vote bank for the upcoming elections. Well, this is nothing new in India! Every government tries its best to win the elections, so I don’t want to harp too much over the intention. But the fact is that developing countries like India need to do a lot more to deliver social justice and fight against poverty. I am not against the reservation policy, but India needs to aim for a society which needs no reservation.
Even after the 70 years of Independence, inequality and injustice still prevail in India.