Social Injustice

Context: Reservation is being undermined through various government policies, judicial pronouncements, and a decline in political clout of the backward classes.

Reservation and its achievements: Reservation has been conceived as the best way to address the historical oppression and not as a mass employment scheme.

• Scheduled Castes (SCs): 

• The proportion of SCs in Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) has increased from 14.6% in 2004 to 18.1 % in 2014.
• SC’s literacy rate jumped from 21.38% in 1981 to 66.1 % in 2011.

• Other Backward Classes (OBCs): 

• Implementation of the Mandal Commission increased their proportion in CPSEs from 16.6% in 2004 to 28.5 % in 2014

Undermining of Reservation: 

• Through State actions: 

• New Public Sector Enterprise Policy: The recent decision of the government to restrict itself to not more than 4 strategic sectors only would lead to dismissal of reservation benefits.

• Rising vacancies:

• The number of vacancies in central government employment has increased from 5.5 lakhs in 2006 to 7.5 lakhs in 2014.

• The candidates selected by UPSC has dropped by almost 40% between 2014 and 2018.

• Inverted U-curve of employment: While the proportion of SCs and OBC increased in the past, the number of actual beneficiaries is on a decline.  

• Lateral Entry: Started in 2019, this new process undermined the reservations system because quotas did not apply.

• Reduced funds: earmarked for Dalit education in the budget which remained low at – (6.5%-9%) when compared to their demographic weight – 16.6%.

• Through judicial pronouncements: the judiciary has also contributed to the erosion of the reservation system.

• The recent judgment of Allahabad High Court, allowing the unit of provision of reservation to shift from a university to the departmental level, reduced the quantum of reserved seats.
• Supreme Court ruling that reservation in promotion is not a fundamental right undermined the effect of the amendment to the Constitution (Article 16(4A)) and the 85th amendment favoring SC’STs in the matter of promotion with consequential seniority.

• Through Executive Lapses: 

• National Commission for backward Classes issues a notice to the health ministry complaining that the post-Mandal 27% quota was not implemented systematically. 

• Through decline in Political Clout: The electoral decline of caste-based political parties (BSP, SP, and RJD) has also led to the neglect towards the issues of reservation.