DNA Edit: Equity and Justice – Empowering the excluded is the way forward

The Supreme Court judgment striking down reservations for the creamy layer within the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes is an attempt to ensure equity and social justice in  society. The Court felt that those who had availed of the benefits of  affirmative action and have come up in life should no longer enjoy the  special privileges that had enabled their economic advancement and  prosperity. It wants to exclude “only those persons within that group  or sub-group, who have come out of untouchability or backwardness by  virtue of belonging to the creamy layer”. The SC held that  the “whole object of reservation is to see that backward classes of  citizens move forward so that they may march hand in hand with other  citizens of India on an equal basis”; and the current mode of empowerment violates the principles of equality under Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution. 

Thus, according to the  SC judgement, the creamy layer is that section, which has already been  socially and economically empowered. It must be borne in mind that huge  economic disparities exist  within the SC and ST sections. When the poor and the impoverished  Dalits and Adivasis have to grapple with disease and starvation,  education becomes a luxury. Education demands time and resources that  these people cannot  afford. So, how will the government empower these people with jobs that  require a minimum level of education? Will it then lower the bar for access to jobs and vocational courses to facilitate growth for these people? The all-India  convention in Delhi, organised by Adivasi Adhikar Manch and the Centre  for Adivasi Research and Development in August, had raised some  important questions. 

For one, it had shown how clueless the central and  state governments are about the plight of these marginal people who live  in remote regions. There aren’t enough schools in these regions, and  where there are schools, teachers are hard to find. So, with the  educational infrastructure missing, no amount of reservation in  government jobs can help the cause. The government should focus on the  welfare of the Adivasi children, which is a basic requirement, if it  wants reservations to truly make a difference in society. The Court has done its bit to establish the basis for building a society that provides equitable access to opportunities and resources as well as just distribution of these. Now it is for the government to get its act together and  set in motion a process that discards the old way of treating  reservation as a vote-catching ploy and work towards upliftment of the  poor who are oppressed by the caste system and multiple social deprivations and injustices. 

However, in what can be viewed as a balancing act, the SC has also cleared the way for reservations in the matter of promotions in government jobs for SCs and STs while removing the hurdle of states having to “collect quantifiable data” that establishes the backwardness of these communities. Therefore, now the government is free to go ahead with promotions of those belonging to SC and ST. It remains to be seen how the private sector responds to the two judgments. The Prime Minister’s Office has already held a meeting to discuss the prospects of making affirmative action a reality in the private sector.