Friday, June 02, 2006

V. Sanil: Reservation as an ethical act


I received by e-mail the following 'article' by Prof. V. Sanil (Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at IIT-D). I am reproducing it below with Sanil's permission. He informs me that it was originally written as a long e-mail to his students. It's good to keep this in mind as you read this thoughtful and provocative article -- especially towards the end ;-).

* * *

Before joining the pro and anti camps let us ask a simple question: what is the meaning of reservation? What is it? There are two very popular but wrong answers:

  1. Caste reservation is the undesirable product of a manipulative alliance between vote seeking politicians and greedy/stupid lower castes.
  2. Caste reservation is a socio economic policy measure to distribute economic resources among the needy sections of society.

I think both I and 2 are wrong. Instead, in my view, the meaning of reservation is

  1. Reservation is an ethical act of ensuring social justice.

The first definition sees reservation as a matter of mere electoral politics. The Second takes it as a matter of policy. I do not mean that 1 and 2 are totally incorrect. They have partial truths. But their partial truths can be acknowledged only if we accept the truth of 3 – that is reservation is a response to an ethical claim of justice. Since claims of justice need to be implemented through publicly accessible institutions, reservation takes recourse to socio economic policy. Since our institutions exist within a democracy, reservation is subjected to political calculation and even manipulation. However, despite every political misuse and failures in policy implementation, reservation is, first of all, a measure of social justice. If we do not see this point we wouldn’t know what to do with our data. When you quote data you should be clear if pertains to a political calculation, policy evaluation or an ethical response.

What does it mean to make a claim of justice? It is a complex issue. Nevertheless some simple clarifications are in order. Reservation is not a favor we grant to lower castes. It is something which they have to claim as their right. This is a special right to a special privilege. However, this does not demand any special obligation from them. The only obligations they contract are those ordinary obligations you and me contract as ordinary citizens. They do not owe anyone a special ‘thank you’. The lower caste get this right as a response to a claim of justice and not as response to their need. Some kind hearted people accept that the lower castes have had a bad deal and they must do something to help this pitiable creatures to get out of their misery. That is a noble thought. But reservation does not find its justification in such kind hearts and noble thoughts.

Reservation as a claim of justice should be distinguished from the policy measures aimed at establishing equality. Many mistake the aim of reservation to be one of establishing equality and blame it for failing to achieve this. However, I do not think that any body in his or her sense would have ever thought that reservation in a few jobs or colleges can bring about equality! It can’t and it is not meant to be. Reservation relates to equality only in an indirect way. Yes, we have accepted equality as a normative ideal and hope to implement policies and reforms – not revolution! – to it make it real. Having accepted this course, we notice that this society harbors some gross and structural inequalities. Inequality suffered by women and lower castes are not like the everyday inequalities our policies address. These are gross and we can’t hold the victims responsible for their fate. Moreover, the very structural features which make our equality seeking society possible are paradoxically involved in sustaining these inequalities. Reservation is an ethical response to the sheer intolerable nature of this structural inequality. The society as a whole decides to take responsibility for the actually existing inequality which is beyond its power of immediate elimination. Or, we all decide to share the inequality equally. Reservation is this act of collective responsibility.

In a liberal democratic society this response and responsibility take recourse to public policy aimed at equality. However, this manifestation should not be confused with what it manifests. In another society this response could take the form of an armed rebellion which is aimed at directly destroying the structures of inequality. Many Dalit activists see reservation as political means to attack Brahminism. The recent debate has totally concealed this anti-brahminical edge of reservation and reduced it to a mere policy for equality. Since I am addressing only liberal democratic upper caste “youth for equality” I shall restrict myself to the ethical dimension of this issue.

Let me explain the demands of justice with the help of an example. Seats are reserved for women in buses. Here we find a young pretty and well decked up woman boarding a crowded bus. The bus is crowded with tired men who have been standing for a long time. Still, our lady gets in and claims her reserved seat as her right. This is the logic of reservation. The men standing from the starting point are more in need of seats. But the woman need not bother about that in exercising her right. She does not owe the men a thank you. It is none of our business to find out if this woman is on a joy ride or she is on her way to her lover or she is rushing home to cook for her family. She does not contract any special obligations in return for her right to the seat. Her husband, if he were in the bus and standing, cannot demand that since she has had a comfortable ride she should do all the house work, once she reaches home. (She may still end up doing just that. That is another story.) Reserving seats for women become an act of justice if it meets these conditions.

Lot of poor people are in need of urgent help. Moblising resources for the poorest of the poor is a matter of policy or disaster management and need not involve any concern for justice. Who can say that my need for listening to Bach’s Goldberg Variations in full moon nights is any less intense or urgent than the poor man’s need for daal chawal? Given an option, the tribals might identify cheap liquor as more of an urgent need than reservation in IIT. Who knows, majority of women might want to stay at home, slog for their family and spin sentimental stories of sacrifice. However, morality of justice refuses to be pinned down by these so-called needs. On the contrary, justice offers a framework for legitimate need interpretations. We are taught to feel the need for Coke through advertisement. Women are taught to feel the need for independence through the procedures of justice. None has an immediate access to his or her needs. Justice provides a framework for us to identify, cultivate and universalize our needs and expectations.

If needs were the only criteria for justice then one might argue that Muslims or economically poor are more worthy of reservation than land-owning, cattle breeding OBCS. This argument, as I explained earlier, collapses justice to a calculation of needs. Muslims are in a bad shape. But they cannot put across their claim as a claim of justice. How does a demand for resource allocation become a claim of justice? This is a very difficult question. We expect answers from philosophically minded and morally sensitive anthropologists, political scientists and economists. Unfortunately they are a vanishing tribe. Today we hear only lobbyists and consultants. The former are paid by politicians and the latter by policy makers. A morally conscious attempt to answer our question will begin with acknowledging the place of narratives at the heart of claims of justice. Measures of justice addressed to lower castes are permeated by some stories about their historical oppression. Women too have stories of gender oppression. These stories have a universal appeal. They can still perk up your moral fibers. Muslims, despite their misery, do not yet have such a story. Unfortunately they are caught up in the villain’s roles in other stories, and these are stories demanding retributive closures and not distributive justice.

No crash course in creative writing can enable communities to write these stories. The creative genius behind these narratives belongs to revolutionaries, artists, social reformers and spiritual masters. These are stories, though empirical research can sometimes weaken the hold of some stories, if not all. Recent research by revisionist historians and sociologists has seriously questioned the validity of the stories of caste oppression. They argue that Caste was a pretty flexible mechanism and the dealings existed between upper and lower levels cannot be reduced to one of oppression. These findings may or may not weaken the moral sale value of stories of caste oppression. Social scientists should not grow impatient and wonder why communities do not realize the folly behind their legitimizing stories. These social scientists forget that stories do not relate to facts the way theories do. Stories do not inspire moral action in the way science governs technological action. However, communities revise and reject their favorite stories. Who knows, a few more post-Godhra type riots, a couple of inanities from George Bush and a global scarcity of oil might put Muslims back in some story of justice. Perhaps they can learn the art of story telling from Jews who have a global monopoly on justice claims.

Not all needy can be brought under the aegis of reservation. But, some say, we should be able to keep out the undeserving. Many of us have legitimate anger against those rich OBCs cornering the benefits of reservation. Everyone seems to agree that there must be some cut off point. Some argue for an economic criterion to skim the creamy layer. Some suggest a temporal criterion – say two generations. However, the moment we attend to the justice part of reservation the prima facie intelligibility of the cut off issue disappears. Reservation is a right. Once you grant a right on someone you cannot take it back at your whim. The bearer of the right has to be a party to any such moves involving the future of that right. No neutral socio-economic criteria can be imposed on them. It is up to the women and lower castes to decide when to put an end to reservation. Some might say that these greedy people will never agree to put an end to these privileges. That is not true. When the reservation was proposed it came with a time tag. Lower castes were party to that agreement. This was possible because Ambedker could place that time limit as an ethical commitment and not as a political compromise or policy demand. Today, the atmosphere is so totally vitiated that one can’t pose the ethical meaning without embarrassment.

If reservation is not a response to need, then the cut off point also should not be a matter of need satisfaction. The question of cut off point should not be reduced to that of communities achieving a certain level of progress. The commitment to a cut off must be unconditional. Whenever we extend the scope of reservation the gaining community should commit themselves to a debate on the cut off point. This is a formal commitment and not a commitment on any specific time frame or substantive criteria. All such substantive issues will be negotiated in a debate in which the bearers will be participants. This commitment must be enshrined in institutions. I know that this suggestion will be met with loud opposition. Lower castes and women might see an upper caste gender agenda behind my suggestion. The experts are ready with cut off criteria, and they do not want to waste time in interminable social debates and reforms. However, I see many developments within the reserved categories which might just prepare the ground for a debate on ending reservation. The feminist movement has thrown up many groups who are opposed to reservation for women. Many lower caste social reform moments still preserve the sparks of a spiritual energy which has not fully endorsed caste reservation. Recently we saw women and lower castes clashing on the women’s reservation in parliament. So far the anti-reservation platform has been colonized by upper caste arrogance and expert impatience. It is time we allow the genuine in house voices who are critical of reservation to come to the table.

Rights are made of a very sticky stuff. Even the bearer cannot easily shrug them off at will! Handicapped people know this well. Special ramps are reserved for wheel chair users. Suppose a self respecting handicapped person decide not to use the ramp and give a try on the stairs along with us. Then we are justified in demanding that he better stick to the ramp instead of making a spectacle of himself on the stairs. Some IITtians who have benefited from reservation have declared that they will not accept reservation for their kids. Through such private acts of self respect, despite their best intentions, they down grade themselves from the bearers of a right to lucky beneficiaries of a favour. They must reaslie the need to back up these acts with a public commitment to raise the self respect of their caste. In other words giving up one’s right should not be a tactic to conceal the caste origin of one’s kids! They all must join the debate on ending reservation for everyone. They must, instead of concealing, transform their caste identity into a one of universal humanity. This was the message of most 19th century social reform movements.

Moreover, such institutionalized dialogues on justice must give up the liberal fears on collective identities. Such fears are also shared by those who think that reservation divide the society. Unless one is a die heard neo liberal evangelist there is no reason for us to think that individuals alone are the bearers of rights. Thanks to the inner strength of the democratic pursuit of justice, genders, collectives, species and even unborn embryos have become bearers of right. Groups – caste, religion, bearded men, tall girls – whose bond of solidarity is open to autonomy claims should be allowed to be bearers of rights. That will only strengthen democracies.

I promise to end this unending note with few comments on formulations 1 (reservation as politics) and 2 (reservation as policy) with which I began. The most popular view on reservation is that it is a mere political strategy of clever politicians to fool people and get votes. This is true! But it is trivially true. According to the elite critics ordinary people are ignorant and do not care a damn about the future of the society. Politicians make use of this stupidity of the masses. In fact, along with critics, most politicians too think that they are playing a clever strategy by supporting reservation. This is a bit like the self image of Bollywood cinema directors who think that they have figured out the desires and expectations of the masses and they have a formula to generate films which would satisfy the masses. If such formula exists why do most Hindi films crash in the box office? Mandal did not take Janta Dal back to power again. So, only critics, and not people, take these strategic pretensions of politicians seriously.

As a policy measure economic criteria has received mass appeal among the rich supporters of reservation. I do believe that one should not make any apriori arguments on criteria. One day, less than 6 ft height might be a valid criteria for seats in IIT. In the age of cloning, being a human might be valid criteria for reservation in certain jobs. However, economic criteria has some special dangers. First of all, this has the highest possibility of misuse. I come from a very low middle class family. But I never got any of the income based scholarships because my parents were in Govt service and there was enough evidence to show that they were above the poverty line. But many of my filthily rich friends got low income scholarships because their dads were in the business and their recorded income was always below every line drawn anywhere. Of course possibility of misuse is not an argument against validity. Secondly, economic criteria is relevant only when we address economic inequality as a structural feature and make poverty an injustice. A majority of those who argue for economic criteria believes that economic inequality is not structural and is a matter of sound free market economic policy. In fact, unlike the socialists, they are committed to the view that inequality is a necessary evil. Thirdly, Modern economics does not – and cannot – have a well-formed concept of poverty. Pre-Ricardian Economics which was an analysis of wealth did have a concept of poverty. However, modern economics, since 19th century is no longer an analysis of wealth and proceeds as a theory of production. It accounts for value not in terms of wealth but in terms of some abstract notion of time or circulation. Within this scheme poverty disappears the way phlogiston disappeared from chemistry or ether from physics. Even Marx, despite his revolutionary zeal did not make the “have nots” the agents of change. His worker was by no means the poorest of the poor. He expected the worker to revolt not in virtue of the wealth he “did not have” but because “something he had” – labor power abstracted into socially necessary labor time – was the seat of injustice. According to Marx the worker alone is a victim of injustice and not the poor. The right wing economist is never tired of pointing out that the leftists align with the privileged worker and not the poor. The leftist falls for the trap and surreptitiously includes poor in his list of sufferers. Modern economics removes poverty through a theoretical move and not through practical measures! Any economist who makes claims about poverty is a bit like the physicist who takes off from theory of uncertainty and lands up with some loud talk about vedantic Brahman. This is not a logical talk but an ana-logical one. When it comes to poverty alleviation my bet is on astrology. These poor guys are poor because of bad horoscopes. Let them die and be born again. Better luck next time. (My argument here is a bit sketchy. If it interests you we can talk about this later.)

You might be surprised to find that I have not yet said a word about merit. My aim was to clarify the idea of justice. Frankly speaking I do not see why merit should a find mention here. However, since this debate is already polarized between merit and justice, the idea of merit a detailed discussion. I might do that soon! Meanwhile I have a few simple questions for you:

How many SC/ST friends have you got? Will you marry a lower caste woman? Does the idea of merit have place in the formulation of your answer? Discuss, but no grades!

22 Comments:

  1. Anonymous said...

    Making choices for someone else is immoral.

  2. Anonymous said...

    Abi,

    Just for quoting this horrific piece of crap we are downgrading your intelligence level from moderate to low in our profile database.

  3. Anonymous said...

    Many questions , I have.Sanil used the analogy of reserving seats for women in buses as an example of justice.But the analogy is slippery , because we do not reserve seats for women in trains or planes.Thus can we say that people are being unjust in trains or planes? I dont think so.The only inference I draw is that response to the demand for justice is applied selectively and is not absolute.

    The question of posing reservation as an ethical right places the problem in a completely philosophical light and water is quite murky here. Every citizen enjoys some political rights, social rights and some economic rights. For example, the right to vote , right to associate freely and the right to practice any profession all institutionalized under the constitution. Each persons vote counts the same , we all enjoy the same rights to organize peacefully but all of us do not have the right(today) to a Mercedes car.

    The notion of collective responsibility also seems to go on a slippery rope.I remember reading the same argument to justify 70% taxes for high income brackets back in the 60s/70s( I may be wrong here and would gladly like people who were around at that time to give more nuanced accounts).

    I also do not understand the phrase "the democratic pursuit of justice, genders, collectives, species".

    Why does Sanil state "I do believe that one should not make any apriori arguments on criteria".?

    As to Mr.Sanil's questions , I can only answer them incompletely because I know the caste of only some of my friends . I have 4 identified SC/ST friends, rest who knows. Caste is not a question , I have given thought to when approaching any woman and I would like to believe that they have not used it as a resaon to shoo me away.

    Let me use the analogy of the bus a little further. Let us consider the following situation , where people are waiting for a bus which has a capacity for 100 people(all stuffed like good ol Indian buses) and this bus has 15 reserved seats for women. Now everybody is standing in a queue but unfortunately there are 130(110 men,20 women) people waiting for this bus and only 5 women within the first 100 people waiting in the queue. How should people board the bus?

  4. Anonymous said...

    Sigh !

    I guess some of us have moved way beyond the level of discussions this professor is proposing.

    I am surprised the professor doesnt mention the word "data" in this long essay.

    I dont think anyone is disagreeing with this 30000 ft view.

  5. Anonymous said...

    As a policy measure...talk about this later.)

    While most of the essay was crap, that paragraph qualifies as uber-crap. I'm surprised you're quoting this...

    After all is said and done, the fact still remains that the government is not too bothered about implementing reservations in a educated manner, and neither does it seem too keen on reforming primary education.

    Oh what's the use of all this...if even AFTER all the debates that've gone around, someone chooses to ask obviously BS questions like "How many SC/ST friends do you have?" and "Will you marry below your caste?", the best thing to do would just to wring your hands in despair..

  6. Anonymous said...

    //Now everybody is standing in a queue but unfortunately there are 130(110 men,20 women) people waiting for this bus and only 5 women within the first 100 people waiting in the queue. How should people board the bus?//

    Are the men and women on the same queue or different queue

    1. If different queue, then
    the first 85 men and the first 15 women should board the bus

    2. If they are standing in the same queue
    the first 85 should board the bus and OUT OF THE REMAINING WOMEN (ie who have not yet boarded) the first 15 should board

    This is the way reservations work... Very simple Isn't it (THe mode of working)

    Now

  7. Anonymous said...
    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
  8. Anonymous said...

    //because we do not reserve seats for women in trains or planes.//

    Great !!!!! ......

    Haven't this gentleman ever seen a train....... Haven't he seen a SEPERATE COMPARTMENT with a lady's face prominently painted (the compartment will be usually seen at the ends of the train)

    Of late I have begun to wonder as to how those against reservations can argue with such (...........) points

    In the olden days of meter gauge the first 6 seats will be having a lock and they were reserved for ladies.... (Any one remember those trains!!!!) Of course the present youth from Delhi and Mumbai would not know about Metre Guage train, which still runs in only in Southern Railways (supposed to be the highest revenue earning corridor)

  9. Anonymous said...

    some people are just obssessed with data. And one shot in the arm they got was the NSSO figures. And they went ranting.

    logically the NSSO figure seems impossible. According to the mandal figures, OBCs constitute 52% of the population. Since then, more castes were added and none were deleted. Being backward, they obviously would have higher fertility rate. So how did the proportion come down?

    Only possibility could be that the NSSO excluded the creamy layer. If that is the case, then what criterion did it use? Some of the criterion in the Lakdhawala Formula (which is used to identify the poverty line) were 1) owning more than 3 sarees 2) owning bicycle

    So all those who clamor for research, let there be more research on the methodologies of research themselves.

    Finally, reservations for economically poor.... if guy's dad blows up his money on gambling, should he be entititled to reservations?

  10. Anonymous said...

    Doctor Bruno has rightly pointed out that my statement on trains is imprecise.

    I also agree that I have not travelled on the meter gauge trains too many times. The broad gauge is far more popular over India.

  11. Anonymous said...

    For those who take the Mandal Commission data as sacred there is some food for thought. Here is a quote by Shri Rajiv Gandhi. "Mandal Commission reported only 810 villages covered during a survey, out of 5 lakh villages". (I picked up this quote from the youth for equality website - http://www.youth4equality.org/census.jsp)

    Can please somebody tell me how those villages were chosen, since I am really not very sure of the procedures adopted by either the Mandal commission.

    I came across a few accussations in the discussions forum in orkut that Mandal quantified the percentage of population as OBC by subtracting the percentage of a few forward castes, SCs and STs from 100. This left scope for doubts whether all the forward castes where covered. I really dont know about the truth of such statements, and would like to get a definitive answer, if possible.

  12. Anonymous said...

    Exactly.

    Confidence levels and Sample Sizes

    I have a totally different take on this, although Abi got upset when I said that. You see, when you have semi-literate ministers that claim to know from their life experiences everything there is to know, there is not much of a point in this meaningless exercise.

    I find it potently funny that when Knowledge commission, NSSO and numerous other commissions' data and findings are completely ignored while knowledgeable folks are furiously debating about all this and that too on a post which basically tries to explain a model of social justice which ignores among other things logical faculty and common sense.

    Even if some stats agreeable to all sections are generated, do you really believe anyone will care? Especially the gimme seat lobby?

  13. Anonymous said...

    Abi,

    I think you and Dilip have made far more cogent arguments in the favor of reservations then Professor Sanil has.

    What took the cake was his talking about a cut off date when all the beneficiaries will decide whether to continue with the reservations or not. Will that be decided by a show of hands? A count?

    I second RC, the Blogsphere is far ahead than the likes of Professor Sanil

    @Cosmic voices,

    Obsessed with data? Even the Mandal commission cites nothing but data, just that NSSO cites new one.

    We are not advocating relying on NSSO data but more research and fresh data collection in a transparent manner.

    Further you claim how can the number of Backwards could have decreased? Becuase a section of the Backwards has become richer! No? or as soon as label someone Backward it means he can never make money?

    Your last point is so stupid that its not even worth responding to. Yes, everyone who is poor has lost his money in gambling and everyone who is rich is chara chor. Ok?

  14. Anonymous said...

    @confused

    its a simple maths. u add more castes, the proportion obviously increases. I dont understand what dispute you can possibly have on that. If you are talking someone becoming richer, then you need to spell out the parameters for "rich". and thats precisely what i question. What parameters did the NSSO use.

    The last point was a possible occurance. I never generalised it.It was intended to say that social discrimination is always inflicted by the society while economic backwards could be due to one's own folly, for which the soceity need not compensate. Your stupidity doesn't allow you look deeper into whats being said.

  15. Anonymous said...

    First point

    Good question but the NSSO should be asked about this, I will try to find out. The problem is the government has not waited for it to happen. It seemed in so much hurry, pray if you could wait for 55 years, why not for 1 more?

    Second point, societal discrimination only matters if if it has still held you back, if your economic situation has improved, past discrimination becomes immaterial.

  16. Abi said...

    First of all, I thank everyone for the comments.

    Second, please read the preamble that I wrote at the beginning of the article. Sanil wrote it as a long e-mail to his students. When exactly it was written is not clear to me; it's likely that it was quite a while ago.

    The reason I sought his permission to post it here is that it brought in an ethical angle which was missing in the discussion so far -- in MSM as well as in the blogosphere. In particular, his framing of quotas as a 'right' is something that appealed to me. If you accept that (and I realize that it's a big IF), several corollaries follow, and Sanil deals with them too. For example, a right can be taken away only with the consent of the owners of this right. Of course, one can render this right irrelevant by expanding opportunities ...

    Similarly, he also explores what this implies about the 'creamy layer'.

    So far, I haven't seen any substantive criticism of Sanil's central thesis and his exploration its implications. Saying that the blogosphere is far ahead is -- to use Sanil's words -- 'trivially true' since the blogospheric discussion (which has already had a lot of back-and-forth) is on a different facet of reservation. And calling it names doesn't get us far, does it?

    A discussion of the data here seems to be off-topic. I request that it be moved to this post where it really belongs. Thanks.

  17. Anonymous said...

    The reason I sought his permission to post it here is that it brought in an ethical angle which was missing in the discussion so far

    Beg to disagree. We have maintained from the beginning that reservations are immoral. Many bloggers compared reservations to communism when the news first broke. You might be aware that in many western countries communism is viewed with extreme suspicion and many consider it immoral.

  18. Anonymous said...

    Abi,

    Thanks for the clarification.

    Sorry, I dont buy this quota is a right thing, second, I see no merit in any argument which does not talk about how this ''right'' should be implemeted.

    Professor Sanil's central premise of quota is a right is frightening.

  19. Abi said...

    Confused: I agree with Sanil that "reservation is a response to an ethical claim of justice". It remains one of the major justifications for a program of quotas. I also agree wtih him that different societies may choose different responses.

    Given that the lower castes' claim is ethical, and that a society responds with a certain measure, then it seems reasonable to take the next step and say that this response "is something they have to claim as a right".

    I personally favour pro-reservation arguments based on diversity and integration. In particular, the latter. However, Sanil's view is valid, not just in a philosophical sense, but also as a practical matter. After all, currently, quotas are being implemented largely (and sort of loosely) on the basis 'social justice'. Sanil's essay places it on a more rigorous philosophical footing (there probably are others who have done it, except that Sanil's was the first one to reach me!).

    Which part of it do you disagree with? If you give reasons for disagreeing with Sanil's view ["it's frightening" will not do, you will still have to say why it's frightening], it will give us all a chance to go further with this discussion.

    This request applies to the others, too.

  20. Anonymous said...

    Is the case for such social justice('right') equally strong for SC/ST and all the OBC??
    Prof.Sanil uses anecdotal evidence for pointing out that economic criteria may not work well(and I agree). Can I use anecdotal evidence to say 'No' to the previous question? Surely, we can have varying reasons for having reservations. Whole of reservation need not come under the same block. (for ex, reservations for armed personnel's children is for a diff reason)

  21. Anonymous said...

    Neither Prof Sanil nor Prof Sunil has the answers.

    What is totally missing from these discussions is the jarring fact that there is nothing wrong with *any* system that can be proved to be working !!


    Some people are suggesting additional marks for OBCs, some others want to consider economic criteria, some want subdivision of OBCs, there are no dearth of ideas.

    The real catch is in how it is implemented and whether the system has a feedback loop or not.

    As far as OBCs are concerned, everyone agrees that their case is fundamentally different from the SC/STs. The OBC case must be monitored even more carefully to prevent a hijack by the dominant castes.

    The NSSO data is not worth much other than to discredit the very basis of the Mandal commissions assumptions.

    What we must have access to is data on the line of the many Backward Classes Commissons conducted by the states !

    The central question is how a community gets to be classified as an OBC and how to measure a communities progress as a result of this classification.

    Unlike SC/STs, OBCs cannot claim an indefinite tenure and entire castes must be taken off the list based on feedback data.

    Now, inspite of all this due to politics, the same wealthy OBCs continue to corner the benefits year after year - then yes merit has been compromised - not to social justice but to political goondaism.

  22. Social Justice Today! said...

    just to clarify the example of women's seats reservation in buses. in a crowded bus, the experience of women who get into it is very different from the experience of men. the seats are also reserved anticipating sexual assaults on us. women loose more in patriarchy when someone approaches her sexually, rather than, men...this is the context in which seats are reserved - the context of violence.

    it is true that it should not be seen as charity...it is our right.

    the same way, as reservations in education and jobs are a right of dalit bahujans.