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The Verdict: What it means

arpitgarg — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:53:14 +0000

They say the fight is over. Yet after two years of struggle nobody knows who the winner is? Perhaps the time will have to decide. Hon’ble Supreme Court of India have upheld 27% reservation for OBC’s in elite education institutes. Our HRD minister has called it an historic judgment, a verdict which has vindicated him. Opposing student unions have called on to revive the struggle. Different people: Different views. I would like to put to pen a couple of points which I deem quite intriguing.

1. Financial Burden on the Government

Moily committee report suggested increasing the seats in higher education institutes by 54%. This was to keep the number of general category seats intact. A huge financial burden was predicted. Lately we have seen an unprecedented hiking of the fees by IIM’s up to 250% with IIT’s soon to follow suite up to 100%. The increase in revenue generated from the tuition fees from general category students seems to compensate for the said financial burden for now (I don’t have the exact figures). The only financial burden that seems probable is by the setting up of new IITs, IIMs, which sure is an investment rather than an outright expenditure.

2. Keeping away the creamy layer

This term often intrigued me a bit. Time and again, I have tried to grasp the length and breadth of it. What I concur is that introducing this clause in the verdict seems a bit of a compromise between the Govt. and the SC. Contrary to the popular notion; it might not help in increasing the level of students being admitted via quota. Cutoffs will decrease further. No doubt about that. According to the belief among the intelligentsia it would at least help replacing the privileged duffers by the underprivileged strugglers.

I have used “duffers” as a general notion. It’s not that they have got no brains. It’s just that the urge to succeed seems lacking, when everything is catered to. Maybe the ones who are underprivileged would try a bit more than their privileged counterparts who were lacking a reason to.

3. Additive Reservation

You would find me an advocate of the reservation (not based on caste), as the affirmative action. What I strictly abhor is an additive one. Once propelled via reservation, why a subject be allowed to reap it time and again? Doing away with it would further help to distribute the resources equally among all needful. Most important of it all, it might motivate them enough to work hard at their first and only chance. The motivation might even help them outperform their general category colleagues, paving a path for doing away with the reservation in the long term.

4. Shape of the future struggle?

I remember representing IITG at a Youth for Equality meet during summer ’06 in Banglore (when govt. was about to present OBC reservation bill in monsoon session). I had an opportunity to interact with some of the socially ignited minds from AIIMS, JNU and other IIT’s. I chatted with personalities such as Mr. Khera and Mr. Agarwal (Supreme Court lawyer for the resistance), if I recollect well.

The picture I got was, most of them baring a few agreed to my viewpoint. All they were against was a caste based reservation and the creamy layer. In fact most of the budding leaders were quite sad that they were being labeled anti-reservationists. They said, “Its not anti-reservation pal, it’s a struggle against caste based reservation. Why isn’t it being called so?” Well this is media. It sells what sell.

Now that the creamy layer is out of the way, I don’t feel next phase of struggle would be that extreme (if not incensed by opposition, which seems highly unlikely).

Why the quota verdict is smarter than you think

churumuri — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 02:30:03 +0000

ALOK PRASANNA writes from Hyderabad: In law school, you can't throw a brick without hitting someone's opinion on reservation. People take this so seriously that the recent Supreme Court judgment on the OBC Reservation issue (Ashok Kumar Thakur v. Union of India) actually affected people’s moods for the rest of the day, depending on their position on reservation.

Everywhere, the "pro-reservationists" claimed "victory", shouting paeans of praise of the Supreme Court while the "anti-reservationists" moped around and started drawing up outlines of case comments where they would ultimately show how wrong the Supreme Court was, and why the nation is going to hell.

Moving out of this closeted mad world, we see similar reactions among the political class and the anti-reservation student bodies (most notably Youth for Equality) respectively.

On the one hand, Arjun Singh can’t wipe the smug smile off his face, while politicians of all hues have already begun counting the votes that this judgment has just hatched for them. With inflation, Tibet and a botched nuke deal threatening to sink the UPA Government in electoral mire, Mannu Bhai & co. are happy to clutch at any straws thrown to them.

Youth for Equality has found, as the NBA did before it, that the Supreme Court is a bit of a gamble.

In all or nothing battles such as litigation, "nothing" is a possibility you cannot not prepare for as this link shows, "nothing" was something they were not exactly prepared for. As litigants over the years have found out, firm belief in the righteousness of one's cause is no guarantee of success at the Court.

Yet, the case, and the involved agitation, is largely irrelevant in the larger scheme of education in the country. Reservations, in a few Central Government institutions, for a few thousand seats is hardly going to cause radical changes in the social fabric of the country or cause too much damage to the already eroding educational infrastructure in the country.

Reading the Supreme Court judgment, most of YfE’s main contentions about "quality" have been sort of accepted by the Supreme Court with the imposition of cut offs for reserved seats as well, and the reversion of reserved seat to the general category if not filled up. In fact the direction to remove the creamy layer from the scope of the reservations means that a large number of the seats are likely to go unfilled since, let us face it, reservations are targeted at the creamy layer.

Don’t be surprised.

Examine the aspect of reservations in higher education institutions closely, and you will realize that it was always aimed at the creamy layer of that particular section in society. After all, higher education is not open to everyone and only those with the pre-requisite educational attainment, funds and the necessary family support (i.e. not having to work immediately after school to support the family) can seriously take up higher education.

As reservations have not been accompanied by a serious effort at increased primary school enrolment and improving access to education, it is with no surprise that one finds that the benefits are cornered a specific advantaged group within the disadvantaged sections. So, when more reservations are announced for more groups (identified apparently on more or less the same grounds as SCs/STs) the immediate beneficiaries are obviously the "creamy layer".

By excluding the creamy layer, the Court has effectively removed the prime beneficiaries of the reservation scheme from the picture. When Mayawati and the chief justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan, refer to the economically backward among forward castes deserving reservations, they are tacitly accepting that reservations in higher education institutions, in their present form, are aimed at benefiting the creamy layer only.

Those in that creamy layer form a significant chunk of people who can take advantage of the reservations, and by neatly slicing them off the top, the Supreme Court has effectively reduced the scope and ambit of the reservations.

However, the Supreme Court’s decision does not apply to SCs and STs, even though reservations for these groups are also specifically aimed at the creamy layer. The Constitution is very clear on this. Special privileges to SCs and STs are hinged on historical discrimination, and not on specific socio-economic factors as in the case of OBCs. Even if all the reserved seats in a category are cornered by the creamy layer of an SC or a group of STs, it is what the Constitution intends as “just compensation”, if you could call it, for generations of inequity.

It is therefore no surprise that political parties have gone into a huddle trying to figure out how to overcome the creamy layer bit of the judgment. The initial claims of "victory" have been now replaced with much brainstorming over how to skirt around the barriers put up by the Supreme Court.

YfE seems to have disappeared off the radar for a while, especially given the investment into this case that has seen them "lose", at least on paper.

So, if YfE “lost” the case, Arjun Singh got himself a Pyrrhic victory, the creamy layers of the OBCs were removed from the picture, and the UPA left feeling a bit like G.W. Bush after the ill-timed “Mission Accomplished” photo-op, who really “won” this case?

Who has come out with a net gain, probability of future gains, and no discernible loss in any field?

The answer, as in all such matters, is simple.

Lawyers.

शिक्षा , मलाईदार परतें और गैर आरक्षित क्रीमी लेयर

अफ़लातून — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 06:28:07 +0000

शिक्षा की अपनी एक दुनिया है । वहीं शिक्षा-जगत व्यापक विश्व का एक हिस्सा भी है - एक उप व्यवस्था । उप व्यवस्था होने के कारण व्यापक विश्व के- मूल्य , विषमतायें , सत्ता सन्तुलन आदि के प्रतिबिम्ब आप यहाँ भी देख सकते/सकती हैं । हर जमाने की शिक्षा व्यवस्था उस जमाने के मूल्य , विषमताओं , सत्ता सन्तुलन को बरकरार रखने का एक औजार होती है । हमारी तालीम में एक छलनी-करण की प्रक्रिया अन्तर्निहित है । लगातार छाँटते जाना । मलाई बनाते हुए, छाँटते जाना। उनको बचाए रखना जो व्यवस्था को टिकाए रखने के औजार बनने 'लायक' हों । इस छँटनी-छलनी वाली तालीम का स्वरूप बदले इसलिए एक नारा युवा आन्दोलन में चला था - 'खुला दाखिला ,सस्ती शिक्षा । लोकतंत्र की यही परीक्षा' यानि जो भी पिछली परीक्षा पास कर चुका हो और आगे भी पढ़ना चाहता हो , उसे यह मौका मिले। १९७७ में यही नारा लगा कर हमारे विश्वविद्यालय में 'खुला दाखिला' हुआ था । इस नारे को मानने वाले उच्च शिक्षा में आरक्षण के विरोधी थे और नौकरियों में विशेष अवसर के पक्षधर । इस नारे की विफलता के कारण शिक्षा में आरक्षण की आवश्यकता आन पड़ी ।

न्यायपालिका (जहाँ आरक्षण नहीं लागू है) ने सांसद-विधायकों के बच्चों को क्रीमी लेयर मान कर आरक्षण से वंचित रखने की बात कही है । क्रीमी लेयर के कारण वास्तविक जरूरतमंद आरक्षण से वंचित हो जाते हैं यह माना जाता है। अनुसूचित जाति / अनुसूचित जनजाति में क्रेमी लेयर के rider से न्यायपालिका ने इन्कार किया है । तीसरे तबके में क्रीमी लेयर की बाबत जज चुप हैं। क्या अनारक्षित वर्ग में मलाईदार परतें नहीं हैं ? क्या विश्वविद्यालयों में इस तबके मास्टरों के बच्चे उन्हीं विभागों में टॉप करने के बाद वहीं मास्टर नहीं बनते ? क्या अनारक्षित वर्ग के अफ़सरों के बच्चे अफ़सर नहीं बनते ? नेता के बच्चे नेता भी हर वर्ग में बनते हैं । गैर मलाईदार वर्गों के साथ उन्हें स्पर्धा में क्यों रखा जाता है ? गैर आरक्षित वर्ग के क्रीमी लेयर पर भी rider लगाने की बहस भी अब शुरु होनी चाहिए ।

पिछड़े वर्गों के कुछ अभ्यर्थी खुली स्पर्धा से भी चुने जाते हैं और अनुसूचित जाति / अनुसूचित जनजाति के भी । हर साल लोक सेवा आयोग द्वारा अनुसूचित जाति अनुसूचित जनजाति के अभ्यर्थियों के सामान्य वर्ग में चुने जाने की तादाद बढ़ने की स्वस्थ सूचना प्रेस कॉन्फ़रेन्स द्वारा दी जाती है। सामान्य सीटों पर उत्तीर्ण होने वाले पिछड़े वर्गों के अभ्यर्थियों की गिनती 'कोटे' के तहत क्यों नहीं की जाती इसे मण्डल कमीशन की रपट में बहुत अच्छी तरह समझाया गया है ।

सर्वोच्च न्यायालय द्वारा कल दिए गए फैसले के बाद हमारे समाज की यथास्थिति ताकतें ( जैसे मनुवादी मीडिया और फिक्की , एसोकेम जैसे पूंजीपतियों के संगठन ) फिर खदबदायेंगी , यह लाजमी है ।

Quota Conundrum : SC opens the Quota Floodgates!

Prax — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 09:38:21 +0000

In a major boost to the Governments reservation policy, the Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the Constitution amendment law providing for 27 per cent quota for OBCs in IITs, IIMs and other Central educational institutions but excluded the creamy layer from the benefit.

A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice KG Balakrishnan, made a unanimous verdict cleared the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006 providing for the quota.

The parameter applied for identifying the creamy layer among the OBCs for jobs as per the office memorandum of September 8, 1993, will be applicable, the court said.

It also held as valid the exclusion of minority institutions from the ambit of quota under the Act. Besides the Chief Justice, the Bench comprised Justices Arijit Pasayat, CK Thakker, RV Raveendran and Dalveer Bhandari. read on sify analysis see video

Now that the floodgates are open expect a Tamil Nadu like situation in the future where a majority admission into premier govt and private institutions like IITs to be done by reservation, and not merit. Reservations are the safest way to divisive politics and assured vote banks, the Congress has played this game well, and i don't expect it to shift from its stand, that too when the community based parties and parties based on minority appeasement have taken over states like UP, from the Congress. As I see it these castes are large vote banks and reservations or not politicians kids always get seats in any educational institution, as they are excluding themselves from being public servants as they are privileged vvips.

The Quota System in India has been much abused and i know of instances of very very rich people using it for getting that much coveted engineering /medical admission using the caste certificate. infact when i applied for a normal degree course, i personally witnessed a lady getting out of a chauffeur driven Merc, with her child in tow yelling to the driver to get the file carrying the coveted cast certificate so as to get her daughter that assured bc seat making me wonder about the existence of the genie called the Creamy layer.

It is not strange that the Minority institutions have been Excluded from this verdict, As i see it they are first class citizens of this country these days. I am also expecting a minority quota to be announced, so as to consolidate that coveted minority vote bank in the near future,sometime close to the announcement of the next General Elections.

Worse i don't have a clue about how the Creamy layer will be defined or be excluded, when the whole reservation was mainly targeted at them, as plainly told by Mr Chagan Bhujbal to the media, when he demanded the criterion of 3 lakhs to be increased, that when a person earning 3 lakhs enters the highest slab of tax payment ie 30%. Most likely- and i speculate that the rules will be watered down or verification will hardly be enforced , but time will tell.

Arjun Singh the Education minister, a Rich leader from a Princely family batting for the OBCs says "This is very historic judgment. Hundreds of students belonging to OBC category will be benefited by it,I feel vindicated. I have been fighting for this when I was the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh. People have misunderstood reservation,” said Singh after the court’s decision.

Funnily CPIM a communist party which is supposed to be anti religion is also for it as published in its unofficial mouthpiece the Hindu.

Ive continued this discussion in my next post on the need for reservation in my next post

Govt policy and Aam Admi Post

Blogs on the quota issue :YouthForEquality BarbarIndian, Kautalyas Algorithm and the contrarian OBCvoice.