dna edit: Constructing a myth

Not so long ago, political pundits had announced the end of caste and community driven electoral politics. Aspirational India, these analysts said, have moved beyond the constrictions of identity politics. The one word that acquired enormous traction in the current political discourse — to the extent of trivialising the word itself — was ‘aspiration’. Economists, political scientists and media analysts have been prone to locate most contemporary social/economic/political transformations within the all subsuming arc of ‘aspiration’. Little does it matter that such sweeping generalisations blur the distinctions between desires and citizenship rights/entitlements. So loud has been the buzz of ‘aspiration’ that it has robbed the word of its original meaning. Distinguishing between aspirations and basic entitlements or rights normally due to a citizen in this process has become difficult. The ubiquitous message disseminated by the influential quarters of policymakers and the political class is that the 21st century ‘aspirational’ modern electorate has moved beyond the limiting influence of caste, religion and community. It’s of course another matter that the frenetic arithmetic exercises currently underway at the headquarters of political parties are based not on voters’ aspirations but hardheaded calculations hinging on caste and community ties.

A conflation of aspirations with basic citizenship rights and entitlements seems to be at the crux of this semantic muddle. The Oxford Dictionary defines aspiration as a ‘hope or ambition of achieving something: the needs and aspirations of the people.’ A categoric distinction has been made between ‘needs’ and ‘aspirations’. The vast majority of people in this country are still denied basic entitlements like access to quality schools, hospitals, clean drinking water and proper roads. These can only be defined as people’s needs or their rights — not things they ‘desire’ or ‘aspire to.’ The latter, one could argue, are based on assumption that people have already achieved their basic citizenship rights.

An expansive survey recently executed across 525 Lok Sabha constituencies by the Association of Democratic Rights (ADR) and Daksh, throws considerable light on the issue. According to the study, the top 10 issues agitating the people have a bearing on their basic entitlements like job opportunities, drinking water, public transport, roads, hospitals, schools and safety. Significantly, these concerns intersect parameters of gender, class, city and village, their ranks varying from state to state. For instance, public transport ranks number two in Gujarat, but does not figure among the top 10 in Uttar Pradesh. Drinking water, even as it tops the list in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Delhi, is absent from Kerala’s priorities. Regardless of these regional variations, the chequered ground zero picture suggests clubbing basic rights under the expansive rubric of aspiration would decidedly be a misnomer.
On many levels, large tracts of India still have not been forged with what is  known in the political lexicon as the ‘aspirational’ India whose citizens have reaped the dividends of economic liberalisation launched more than two decades ago. Outside this reforms-driven aspirational framework, as one moves deeper into the country, caste and community networks emerge strong and intact. Through patron-client relationships, routed through caste and community-based political parties, the poor strengthen their political and electoral leverage. And that reality — even today, despite the chant of an all encompassing aspirational model — holds true for most of India. At the same time, there’s no doubt that people have become more and more conscious of their rights to basic entitlements, be they schools or hospitals. It’s the failure of the state to deliver these essential rights-based services that still continue to  play a crucial role in preserving caste and community ties.