Reservation policy as an Affirmative Action

if we want to understand why and  how the reservation policy took birth, we should first know about the caste system and some of its features.

Basic caste division

·          Brahmins – priests, teachers

·          Kshatriyas -warriors, kings, administrators

·          Vaishyas -merchants, agriculturists

·          Shudras -artisans, service providers

o          Harijans or Dalits-outcastes, untouchables

Harijans or dalits are recognized as scheduled castes by government of india. Historically these people were treated as impure souls, and they were associated with occupations such as leatherwork, butchering, or removal of rubbish, animal carcasses, and waste which are considered as impure. Dalits are seen as polluting for higher caste people. If a higher caste Hindu is touched by an untouchable or even had a Dalit's shadow across them, they consider themselves to be polluted and have to go through a rigorous series of rituals to be cleansed. they are marginalised and kept away from mainstream social life of Hindu society. They are not allowed to enter temples or schools along with other caste people. As a result, Dalits are poor, deprived and socially backward. In India there are approximately 240 million Dalits. This means that nearly 25% of the population is Dalit. It also means that in a country, where everybody is supposed to have equal rights and opportunities, 1 out of 5 persons is condemned to be “untouchable”.

                This system of untouchability exists even now in rural areas where cast is very important factor of society. But in urban areas where caste origins are less apparent, many Dalits are integrated into social life. “Untouchability” was abolished by constitution of India in 1950. But still even now villages in many states are separated on basis of caste. It was called "hidden apartheid." These people should not enter the higher-caste sections of villages, may not use the same wells, wear shoes in the presence of upper castes, visit the same temples, and drink from the same cups in tea stalls and many other restrictions imposed unofficially.  

Schedule tribes:

                The case tribes is much different than that of Dalits. They are also referred as Adivasi. They are group of tribal communities with distinct culture, language, religious beliefs, arts and crafts and not integrated with the mainstream society. They are socially and geographically isolated from rest of Hindu or Indian society.  Along with being geographically and socially isolated, the tribal groups have historically been politically under-represented. Their regions of residence also have been economically underdeveloped.

                So both these groups Scheduled castes and scheduled Tribes were treated as backward classes by government of India after independence.in 1953 Kalelkar Commission was established to assess the situation of the socially and educationally backward class. “Affirmative action” or reservations was started by government to provide positive preferential treatment in allotment of jobs and access to higher education.  By doing so they wanted to accelerate the integration of these marginalised people into mainstream society. Currently SCs have 15% and STs have 7.5% reservations in higher education institutes (IITs, IIMs etc.). The percentage reservation varies from state to state.

                OBC or Other Backward Classes are other group of people classified by government based on their social and economic status. They are a large group in terms of population. They constitute about half of our nation’s population and they currently possess 27% reservation quota.