The ‘reverse social engineering’ — 10 per cent reservation for the economically backward among the forward castes — is all set the alter the calculus of the caste based parties pursuing identity politics in Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere in the country.
The move will affect the electoral arithmetic of Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party who have announced to forge an alliance with the aim to consolidating the 85 per cent vote bank comprising Dalits, OBCs and Muslims.
The Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance government will move a constitutional amendment bill in Lok Sabha on Tuesday to push for 10 per cent extra reservation for economically deprived sections among general categories.
The BJP’s parent organisation, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, has always maintained that reservation should be along economic lines and not only along caste basis.
Besides the 10 per cent quota for the upper castes, the Modi government is all set to fire yet another salvo — quota within quota for the Most Backward Classes in the 27 per cent reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs). The National Commission for Backward Classes in 2011 had recommended three sub categories of the 27 per cent quota among different castes included in OBCs so as to ensure that the benefit of the reservation reaches all the backward classes.
The NDA government in October 2017 had appointed a committee headed by Justice G Rohini and it is likely to submit its report soon. The NDA government will split the 27 per cent quota among backwards, most backwards and extremely backwards classes.
“It is a political stunt by the beleaguered Modi government ahead of the crucial Lok Sabha elections. The legislation to be passed after the amendment of Constitution will not hold the scrutiny of law. Deciding over the constitutional validity of the Mandal Commission, the Supreme Court in the Indra Sawhney vs Union of India case of 1992 had ruled that economic backwardness cannot be the sole criterion for providing reservation,” said professor Vivek Kumar of Jawaharlal Nehru University.
Both Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party, taken off guard, are said to be rattled by the NDA government’s 10 per cent reservation move.
Incidentally, Bahujan Samaj Party, which owes its existence to the politics of social engineering, has been a strong advocate of reservation on economic grounds for the poor among the upper castes. In 2007, the BSP had changed the tack and to pursue inclusive politics for attracting Brahmins, it had coined a new political plank — ‘Sarv Samaj’.
“The proposal to give 10 per cent reservation to economically weaker upper castes is nothing more than a jumla. It is bristling with legal complications and there is no time for getting it passed in both Houses of Parliament and so the Modi government stands completely exposed,” said a Samajwadi Party leader.
A senior SP leader said the 10 per cent quota could be precursor for ending the caste-based reservation and replacing it with the economic criterion. “The socially backward castes already enjoy the benefit of reservation. But once the income-based reservation is successfully implemented for economically weaker upper castes, the next logical step would be to apply the same yardstick to the so-called lower classes — OBC, SC, ST and other socially backward sections as well. The rich, regardless of their caste and religion, do not need reservations,” the SP leader said.
The point is at some stage the nation will have to bid adieu to the game of caste, community and religion based reservations and look at income levels as a criterion, which is the right way to look at the reservation picture.
Arvind Panagariya, noted economist and former Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog, in a working paper which assessed poverty by social groups (1993-94 to 2011-12), found that percentage of poverty reduction is slower among the forward castes compared with socially backward castes between 2004-05 to 2011-12.