Reservation in India was meant to solve problems and outcast the evils of the caste system in our society. Our forefathers brought it because it was meant to bring out the people from the backward cast and uplift them.
Although diplomacy has started building upon them now and it has been a major issue all over the country and no political party remains behind to elevate it in order to fill up their vote banks. Now, look at some major facts about the history and development of reservations.
Reservation in India was meant to solve problems and outcast the evils of the caste system in our society. Our forefathers brought it because it was meant to bring out the people from the backward cast and uplift them.
Although politics has started building upon them now and it has been a major issue all over the country and no political party remains behind to elevate it in order to fill up their vote banks. Let us look at some major facts about the history and development of reservations.
The reservation system in India raises a very crucial question. whether India is a minority dominating Country? The reservation system is been existing from a long time with the view of giving equal opportunity to persons who are socially and economically backward. But with the passage of time, the very view is getting speculative. At the time, when the reservation was proposed in India, the country was suffering from Caste Biasness, i.e. Majority and Minority, whereby Minority is suppressed by the Majority. So to uplift the position of the lower caste, the concept of Reservation came up.
Reservation is a governmental policy regarding minorities in society taken by the state to uproot the steady or present and proceeding impacts of past separation on specific fragments of the social order to achieve critical governmental objectives. Reservations for the most depressed groups have existed in some form for the days of British Rule. These groups are collectively referred to as Dalits or Untouchables, though they are actually composed of hundreds of distinct groups. After India achieved Independence, the composition of these two groups was finalized into lists of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and their protection was enshrined in the constitution. The constitution specially prohibits discrimination on the basis of caste, but reserves 22.5% of seats in institutions of higher education and government employment.
The Mandal Commission of 1979 recommended the creation of a third category of groups eligible for reservations, Other Backward Classes (OBC). This category consisted of various groups under it which estimated the population of these groups at 52% of the total population of India. Percent caste-based reservation system of Union Government Category as per Government of India Reservation percentage as per Government of India Scheduled Castes (SC) 15.0% Scheduled Tribes (ST) 7.5% Other Backward Classes (OBC) 27% Total Constitutional reservation 49.5% percentage General (Open to all including SC/ST 50.5% and OBC With the new initiative taken by the Modi Government, it will bring a new moon to the existing Reservation System.
The Proposed bill that allows 10% Quota reservation for the economically weaker Upper Caste has been passed by the Lok Sabha. The Bill that was introduced by Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment Thawar Chand Gehlot, in the Constitution (124th Amendment) Bill, 2019 was cleared by the majority of members. The Country is more important than the Caste, and every economically weaker section should get a reservation. The Bill will apply to the general castes that are not covered in the existing quotas and have a family income below eight Lakh p.a. or agricultural land below 5 acres. Also, those who have a house less than 1,000 square feet or a plot less than 100-yard in a notified municipal area or a plot less than 200-yard in a non-notified municipal area, are eligible. The Bill has to be passed by both the Houses of Parliament by a special majority of two-thirds. If it is not passed within the term of this Lok Sabha, it will lapse.
The bill has yet to be passed by the Rajya Sabha and if any appeal lies against it in the SC, then the order of the SC will prevail. The Passing of this Bill will clear my concern – Is giving priority to Schedule Caste/backward classes students who have got 35% or 40% marks instead of meritorious students from the general category who got 75% marks or above, right or wrong? Are we building a better nation by placing these unqualified persons on the top posts? Is it justified for the General Category students? Can a Doctor save a serious patient? An Engineer makes a better infrastructure, a Judge Gives justice to the innocent person if all these are employed through the channel of reservation mode. Are they equally efficient to give services compatible with the meritorious student? There are some disadvantages of the reservation too like allocating quotas is a form of discrimination which is contrary to the right of equality.
60% of India that is rural needs Health Care, Schools and infrastructure in rural areas, and not reservations in urban areas. So the solution for this is they should be given scholarships in the form of monetary help but cut-off marks should not be given. Reservations were introduced into the Indian Education System as a means for the overall development of society. However, today all sections of society have been developed economically, culturally, and socially. Hence, the need for reservation is limited, however, if there is reservation it should be not only on the basis of caste but should be given to every economically poor section of the society. Complete elimination of reservations is not possible considering the current political scenario. Hence, reservation should be provided in the form of monetary support, not at the cost of knowledge.
