RESERVATION AT GUN POINT: VIOLENCE PAYS

The current upheavals in perennially simmering cauldron of clamor for reservation /quotas bears out that the quota based reservation policy, a kind of affirmative action envisaged as a tool of egalitarianism, has now become a “prized booty”. It is begotten out of amalgamate of “brute majority and/or brutal muscle power, blood-shed, vandalism, tacit political cum administrative patronage and above the all, rampant political opportunism”.  We saw Gujjars in Rajasthan and Jats in Haryana reaping the dividends of unprecedented violence and vandalism unleashed by them for pressing-up their demand for reservation by way of  grant of quotas to them by obliging Governments through Legislative Laws.  The fierce Patel agitation of 2015 compelled the Gujarat government to make provisions for scholarships, free coaching and relaxation in age limits and in the number of attempts for government jobs for the members of economically backward upper-castes. Reportedly, in the wake of resurrected Patel agitation 2016, now the Gujarat Government is seriously mulling over inducting 5-6% quota for economically backward persons belonging to general category. Be that as it may, the Hon’ble Apex Court  has unequivocally held that “in every case where the State decides to provide for reservation it has to collect quantifiable data pursuant to a scientific survey showing backwardness of the caste/class to such an extent that people belonging to such caste/class are not able to compete in open/general category and thereby resultant inadequacy of representation of that caste/class in public employment”. Thus, need of hour is to conduct such  survey of all castes already in the BC pool, and other castes seeking inclusion therein and then retain/induct accordingly only those castes which strictly satisfy the above test of the Supreme Court.   Moreover, no creamy layer criteria (rule of exclusion) in SC/STs and a very feeble & narrow such criteria in OBCs have not allowed the benefits of reservation to percolate down to actually distressed and poor sections of  reserved castes resulting into perpetuation of overall backwardness in such castes.  Unless the things are set right as above, skeptics of quotas may not be wrong in holding a view that present form of affirmative action in practice in our Country is a politically sponsored, constitutionally enabled and judicially sanctioned fraud with masses. Hence, it has become imperative to review the entire policy and efficacy of quotas in the present form.