Reservation
For Dalits In Private Sector
By Dr. Udit Raj
22 June, 2004
Countercurrents.org
The
reservation in private sector is the talk of town. There are people
who are in favour and against it. Maharashtra govt. has passed a bill
paving the way for reservation in private sector for Dalits and Backwards,
which is being opposed by Shiv Sena. As amended now the reservation
will be applicable to only those businesses, which are helped or contributed
by the government. In these circumstances, there is big question to
ask why Dalits are feeling the need for reservation in private sector
when they already possess reservation in government jobs. In 1999, there
were 481 judges in High Courts of India out of which only 15 were of
Scheduled Caste background while there were 21 judges in the Supreme
Court and there was not a single judge from Scheduled Caste background.
And in 1995, in Group A Central Government services the Dalits' participation
was just 10 per cent. Now that PSUs are being plundered and privatisation
seems to be on a warpath, where will Dalits go for earning their livelihood
and respect?
Reservation is traditional
proprietary in India. After the invasion of Aryans, there was a fierce
struggle between Aryans and Natives, who are Dalits of today. The Aryans,
outsiders or invaders finally won. They came to the conclusion though
that it would be difficult to establish their rule with the sword so
they conjured up the idea of reservations in religion, occupations and
privileges for themselves. They further coupled it with the miserable
life of indigenous people of India that is Dalits attributing it to
sins of past lives, fate, curse and divine will.
In this set up Brahmins
came to be associated with learning, Kshatriyas were given the duty
of protecting the boundaries, Vaishyas took care of businesses while
Shudras were told to serve all three. And none was to go beyond their
caste-based occupations. This system has been continuing since then
and is quite rampant in every walk of Indian life. The people who are
against the reservation in private sector do so on the basis of this
tradition and historical mind set. If mothers of Dalit children who
instead of bathing, feeding and preparing their children for schools,
clean your and my feaces every morning and carry it on their head had
their misery, pain and anguish been understood by opponents of reservation,
the country would already have been a prosperous and peaceful one. The
people who are not allowed to drink water from village pond the country
would have
developed much before if Manuvadis had known their stigma. The village
water sources are still untouchable for Dalits of village Chakwada while
animals freely drink from them.
The people in urban
areas think this is not credible and tell they are above caste feelings.
When they are further probed if they are going to marry their children
into Dalits and vice-versa, excluding exceptions, they become cold to
the idea and will debate you no end. At any meeting place one's name
won't be sufficient in introduction, conversationalists one way or the
other try to get to know the caste of each other, if not directly. And
without it, the profile or introduction remains incomplete, which can't
be said of other
religions. With the help of reservation in govt. jobs and education,
Dalits have come to participate in mainstream. And anywhere else where
there is no reservation media, judiciary, export-import, businesses
and high skilled technical and professional jobs for instance they are
entirely nonexistent for instance. Over more than 100 celebrities participated
in Olympic Torch Relay in Delhi but not a single Dalit was part of it.
We should try to get to the reason why.
The people who speak
against reservation are generally from Sangh Parivar or BJP. When in
1990 Mr. V. P. Singh announced reservation for OBCs; BJP didn't oppose
it directly. Instead Mr. L. K Advani took out the Rath Yatra for construction
of Ram temple. During that time there was great anger in middle class
and so-called upper-caste and all this came out along with the final
outcome of the Yatra. The success of Kamandal lied in Mandal and BJP
was able to achieve what it couldn't since last 30 years. It came into
government. The lack of intelligent leaders among Backwards was a big
reason why they failed to see through this strategy or why would Mr.
Narender Modi, Ms. Uma Bharati, Mr. Vinay Katiyar and Mr. Kalyan Singh
be working for BJP? The logic doing rounds these days against this move
is that the efficiency and meritocracy will be adversely affected.
As of writing this
piece, there is no reservation in private economy of India unlike Affirmation
Action practiced by the businesses in America. Why then the Indian economy
hasn't been able to throw up a challenge against global companies and
products? Tell me one Indian product, which is global brand? Businesses
do most of the research and development in America but in India R &
D is taken care of by the government while businesses thrive on them.
Indian industries
consider American businesses as their role model but they don't want
to know a thing or two about the compassionate work done by them towards
the weaker sections. In America businesses on their own without any
legal necessity provide Afro-Americans, Hispanics, Red Indians with
employment keeping in mind their populations. In 2001, when Mr. Bill
Gates came to India, he pledged Rs. 5000 crore for computerisation.
When an American
businessman can prove this much caring towards a foreign country, just
imagine how much committed they must be to the welfare and needs of
their fellow countrymen. In 1982, American media came to know that there
were only two per cent of Afro-Americans in media. This stunned editors
and owners of big-time newspapers and they started making extra effort
to search for the minority candidates. Finally, they trained them and
employed them. One more survey was done after 7-8 years and within this
short span; it came out that their participation has reached 8-9 per
cent. This is called patriotism. Last year in Michigan University a
white student-- who had secured more marks than an Afro-American but
who still failed to get admission in Law School- challenged the Affirmative
Action and lost the case in US Supreme Court by a margin of 5-4. It
is to be noted that most of big businesses, educational institutions
and philanthropic organisations like Ford Foundation came in support
of the Black Student and aired their views that under no circumstance
should the Affirmative Action be discontinued. Finally, US Supreme Court
gave a verdict in favour of reservation for Blacks. Indian corporates
benchmark their business strategies against American businesses but
they don't want to emulate societal obligations, which they practice.
In fact, they should take up this wonderful opportunity to set right,
the wrong, which is continuing for thousands of years. Indian brands,
products and services have never been able to match up to the standard
we generally see in North America and Western Europe, one of the reasons
of it may be the exclusion of hard working, honest and laborious Dalits
from economic life of India.
It shocks me that
some corporate houses are heard opposing it saying that private businesses
are the result of their hardwork and money. I want to know if Indian
software industry which is flourishing could it have done even one per
cent of it had their been no IITs and IIMs around? Certainly, these
were not the creations of richest people in India and surely we know
a thing or two about market failures, who pays them up in India unlike
developed countries? In sum, nobody rich or poor lives in vacuum anywhere
on earth. If Dalits will be employed, they will be paid according to
their contributions. It won't be a free lunch. The revenue collection
of Indian govt. is about 8.5 to 10 per cent of total GDP. In developed
countries it is about 25 per cent and even in less developed economies
it ranges from 16 to 20 per cent. The source of government revenues
is mostly income tax in foreign countries, while in India, most of it
is excise and customs. There are thousands of rich businessmen, who
have about 15-20 Acs in their homes but while filing income tax returns
they show their household expenses around Rs. 50 to 60 thousands. Many
do not deposit sales tax, which is collected from public, and when sales
tax officers come calling, they protest and cry foul that they are being
harassed.
Any nation is the
bigger concept of a home. If a person in our home is depressed or not
in the best of health, it affects the well being of entire family. Similarly,
if Dalits don't have proper education, decent places to live and prosperous
means of earning livelihood, the country as a whole won't be prosperous,
happy and peaceful and in Indian context it is already true. I hope
the verdict of 14th Lok Sabha teaches them a lesson that how anguish
and deprivation of the poor, Dalits and Minorities threw NDA out of
power. BJP during its rule was concerned about only one section, upper-caste
rich, who wanted to get further rich. And it lost the power. Let's think
about weak too. Middle Class always complains that there is too much
of a caste in Indian political set up. But, it doesn't seem to wipe
it out. When there is caste in society, it will always affect politics.
And always for worse.
When Clive Lloyd
of East India Company was hurtling through Calcutta with about 1500
soldiers, there were lakhs of locals, who witnessed it mutely. Clive
Lloyd later on said if his party had been recipient of even one pebble
each, they would have been finished. The horse-riders, who set off from
Kabul and Kandhahar would pass through Delhi as if they were strolling
in their personal rose gardens. Various Indian communities used to watch
spectacle of one invasion after the another and doing nothing. It happened
because only one caste (Kshatriyas) was expected to secure the borders
and country at large. Other communities thought it was beyond their
jurisdiction. This same caste system has prevented the growth of sense
of belonging for the country and feeling of responsibility and concern
for one another. When Britishers tried to open the doors of public education
for Dalits, they met with immense resistance from dominant castes. They
came to realise that changing the social and cultural set-up wouldn't
be an easy task and that if they did so it would lead them to pack up.
Hence, the foreigners could come and rule over the Indians but Indians
wouldn't like to treat their fellow
countrymen with humane behaviour.
If Indian industry
opposes it, it will be the same mentality, which lays out a red carpet
for foreigners but which is incompatible with an equal place for Dalits
under the sun. Today, if by hook and crook FIIs, WB, MNCs and IMF are
helped by various policies, subsidies of the government, Indian industrials
aren't seen protesting it. In capital market there is shocking clout
of FIIs and this clout makes the market very volatile but not a single
industrial criticises it. The real loss of Indian industry occurs when
MNCs get favourable policies and when agreements are dictated by agencies
like WB and IMF. Indian corporate houses should fight them instead of
fighting against reservation for Dalits in private sector. If Dalits
get opportunity to get ahead in life, nation as a whole will get ahead.
It won't be a benefit, which will accrue to outsiders. They should help
Dalits become entrepreneur or at least they should buy raw materials,
products and services from them, so that caste based occupation is done
away with once and for all.
Dr. Udit Raj is
the National President of Indian Justice Party. He can be contacted
at 478, Laxmi Bai Nagar, New Delhi-23Tel.: 011-26871600, Mobile: 011-32001477
or 9899382211
Email: [email protected]