What Is Reservation?
The system of reservations in post-colonial India was designed to reserve opportunities and provide a voice for historically disadvantaged groups. It was launched upon the enactment of the Constitution of India in 1950 as the oldest and farthest reaching system of its kind.
Reservations were intended to be a temporary mechanism to realise the promise of equality as enshrined in the Constitution of India.
Specifically, these policies reserved a percentage of seats in higher education, public sector employment and the legislative assembly. It has been primarily given to three groups: Scheduled Castes (Dalits, untouchables), Scheduled Tribes (Adivasis, indigenous tribals) and OBCs (other backward classes).
Due to India’s immense diversity demographically, geographically, linguistically, and ethnically, reservations may differ across jurisdictions within the subcontinent. The breadth and complexity of power imbalances across people intersect and change across landscapes.
Reservation Timeline
- 1950: Constitution introduces reservations in education and legislation for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs).
- 1953: Backward Classes Commission is set up under Kaka Kalelkar to identify Oppressed Backwards Classes (OBCs). In 1955, they released a report that had little to none impact.
- 1963: Supreme Court of India rules reservations can not exceed 50%.
- 1978: Mandal Commission sets up to determine quota for backward castes. They proposed reserving 27% for OBCs.
- 1989: Prime Minister VP Singh begins implementing recommendations from Mandal Commission. Faces widespread resistance from upper-castes.
- 1992: Apex Court upholds 27% reservation for OBCs despite backlash.
- 2006: Ministry of Human Resource Development proposes raising reservation in educational institutions to 49.5%. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh discusses reservations in the private sector.
- 2019: Union Cabinet passed a bill that for the first time reserves 10% seats purely based on financial status for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS).
The Constitution Assembly instated that within ten years reservations would fulfil their purpose and be nullified. However, rather than being removed after a decade, this policy has had to be renewed, revised and expanded constantly. All the while, segregation and agitation between groups persist.
The root of the problem, which is the caste consciousness that remains embedded in the very fabric of the country, remains unaddressed. Instead of nullifying this vertical approach that provides education, we need to create a horizontal solution that addresses many issues at once — including education, land ownership and economic means.
Protesting reservations only reinforce the very conditions that prompted the need for these regulations.
Caste is indeed reinforced every time the categories of reservations are expanded without actually diversifying representation. The failure of this system is a failure of the state, not the communities it is meant to protect in the first place. Yet, we are so caught up in fighting this only real temporary relief marginalised groups have from caste, rather than fighting caste system itself.
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