Compensatory Injustice: A Critique of Affirmative Action in India by Angad Singh

Caste politics is an extremely divisive issue in India, and with good reason. Historically, untouchable castes were forbidden from entering the temples in which the general populous worshiped, were prohibited from obtaining water from the community well, and if even their shadow came across that of a Brahmin, the latter would have to purify himself. Many of these untouchables, or dalits as they are more commonly known, were largely forbidden entrance into schools and jobs and forced into menial labor thereby perpetuating a cycle of poverty.

In recent times, however, it is not entirely clear to me how entrenched caste is. It is my impression, which is by no means fact, that caste discrimination is largely absent in more cosmopolitan areas, such as large cities. However, I do not doubt that it is prevalent in many rural areas. One of the most important programs the Indian government has put in place to redress caste injustice is affirmative action, or the reservation system.

Affirmative action in India has a long history, dating back to British rule. Since the British Raj, a total of 22.5% of all seats in government service (the Indian Civil Service) and government run education, are reserved for untouchable castes and tribes. This quota has been codified in India’s Constitution and is required by law. In 1990, prime minister VP Singh broadened these quotas, recommended by the Mandal Commission, to include what are known as other backward classes (OBCs), and demanded that 27% of government seats be allotted to them, on top of the 22.5% allotted to dalits and scheduled tribes, thereby mandating that 49.5% of all government seats in the civil service and state education be reserved for certain types of historically discriminated castes. Since that time, the extended quotas have been hotly debated and many demonstrations have broken out both for and against reservations. The issue has been so emotional that several students in the past have resorted to self-immolation in protest of the reservation system.

While there needs to be a redress of caste discrimination, these government mandated quotas go to far and are a ham-handed approach to a nuanced problem. Firstly, isn’t it bizarre that in order to redress the problems of societal caste discrimination, the government would institutionalize such discrimination? It seems unfair to hold the caste of a member of a “forward” caste against him or her. This seems contradictory and this institutionalization of caste only makes caste a more salient factor in societal relations and enflames passions as is obvious by pro and anti reservation demonstrations.

Also, there is evidence to suggest that in many cases, people of lower caste who are ranked lower in the academic ladder than a higher caste get preference for admittance into higher-level government funded education. Arun Shourie, an Indian politician and journalist, has claimed that in many instances, lower caste candidates get accepted with much lower academic standing and entrance exam scores than more meritorious candidates of “forward” castes. Such a policy will no doubt tend to dilute the academic quality of India’s institutes of higher learning.

However, the government is intent on extending these reservations. In fact, the central government amended the Constitution in 2005 to pave the way for government legislation mandating state schools to adopt the extra 27% quota for OBCs and the amendment explicitly says the government can force private schools to obey this quota as well.

The claim that reservations dilute intellectual standards in schools is something even the government agrees with. Witness the Central Educational Institutions (Reservations in Admission) Act of 2006 that was enabled by the 93^rd amendment to the Constitution as discussed above. The Reservations in Admissions Act demands that higher education state funded schools enact the 27% quota for OBCs yet explicitly exempts certain “institutions of excellence, research institutions, institutions of national and strategic importance” such as the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology, the National Brain Research Centre, and others. While the law explicitly does not state why these institutions are exempt from the OBC quota, the fact that these institutions are deemed of national and strategic importance imply that personnel in these places ought to be India’s best and brightest. By excluding certain institutions, the government implicitly acknowledges that the quota system leads to greater intellectual mediocrity yet are still adamant in expanding the system into premier IT and medical universities.

This is not to say that all members of backwards castes do not perform as well as those from forward classes, however, it seems in general that due to the lack of candidates from backward castes, government bureaucrats are forced to accept lower ranking members of “backward” castes and that often means “backward” caste candidates of lower academic rank. On the other side, reservations means that “forward” caste candidates have to compete more rigorously as there are fewer available seats.

The problem ought to be redressed at the primary school level. Insofar as education is essential toward social mobility, the Indian government ought to reform primary school education. To my knowledge, the higher-level state universities in India are quite good while primary school is in terrible shape, an unfortunate circumstance. That is why reform at this level is needed. Perhaps this can be done through government, yet if not, a more market-oriented approach is needed where government subsidizes educational entrepreneurs in starting a private school. Once competition in this sector grows, tuition fees will likely decrease and for those who still cannot afford it, government ought to give vouchers that will promote school choice for poverty stricken families so they can choose to send their children to either agricultural or vocational schools to immediately improve economic conditions, or if possible, send them to a school where English, economics, and IT are emphasized, admittance being dependant on merit, of course.

By abandoning the inefficient reservations system and focusing on basic education and perhaps anti-poverty programs, the government can help redress not only the problem of poverty due to caste discrimination, but poverty in general insofar as this pernicious inequality cuts across caste lines.