GS-2: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors
The key to revitalising India’s reservation system
Context: Introducing reservations for OBCs in the All India Quota of National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) examinations.
Why Reservations?
In deeply unequal and oppressive social order of Indian Society, some sort of state support (like reservations) is needed to promote inclusive development.
Through reservations, marginalised groups — which have suffered generations of oppression and humiliation — would be able to find place in the power sharing and decision-making processes.
However, reservation has not translated into an equalisation of life chances for many groups in our heterogeneous society.
Issues
Intra-Group Demands: There is now a strong demand to revise the policy, from those who have not been able to enjoy the benefits of reservations from within the marginalised sections
Asymmetrical distribution of reservation: 97% of central OBC quota benefits go to just under 25% of its castes. As many as 983 OBC communities — 37% of the total — have zero representation in both central government jobs and admissions to central universities. (G.Rohini Commission report)
Insufficiency of Data: There is hardly any legible data on the socio-economic conditions of varied social groups at State & local level. Also, we do not know what liberalisation has done to castes which remained tied to more traditional sources of income.
Way Forward:
There is a need for an institution alike the Equal Opportunities Commission of the USA or UK which can undertake the following:
Make a deprivation index by using the data from the socio-economic-based census of different communities and rank them to make policies specific to each deprived community.
Undertake an audit on performance of employers and educational institutions on non-discrimination and equal opportunity provided.
Issue codes of good practice in different sectors.
