Upping the ante on reservation

There will be less scope for faulting the Bihar Assembly for passing a legislation raising the quota for Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), the Other Backward Castes (OBCs) and the Extremely Backward Castes (EBCs) from existing 50 per cent to an all time high 65 per cent.

With 10 per cent quota for the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) among the upper castes, the total reservation in education and employment in the Hindi state rises to 75 per cent.

While the timing for the legislation prior to the 2024 general elections clearly indicates it to be a politically expedient move, chief minister Nitish Kumar has left no opportunity for the opposition Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) to criticise as the party has been scheduling much of its initiatives including the opening of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya closer to the elections.

All that can be said is the opposition parties have devised their moves on the social justice front to counter the BJP’s communal card.

With Bihar upping the ante, more of these would be expected prior to the elections for the Lok Sabha.

Coming as it does a month after the State Government released the report of the Caste Census, it provides justification for the raising of the quota.

But it does breach the limit of 50 per cent set by the Supreme Court three decades ago for reserving the opportunities for SCs, STs and the OBCs.

However, the apex court’s clearance of 10 per cent reservation for the EWS among the upper castes had indicated that sanctity attached to the 50 per cent cap was not such that it could not be surpassed.

Similarly, a special provision has been made for Tamil Nadu to hike the reservation to 69 per cent. The ease with which the Modi government exceeded the cap has only emboldened voices demanding scrapping of the upper limit altogether and align the reservations with social composition.

It will however require a legislation to do away with this formality. While reservation was initially meant for the upliftment of the historically underprivileged and the underdogs, over time it has become more of a poll plank.

With the state’s share of employment shrinking, public sector undertakings vanishing and lateral entries being allowed in the top echelons of the administration, how many jobs would be up for grabs is anybody’s guess.

But Bihar has set the ball rolling and many more states may be looking at hiking of reservation as a potential tool to corner the casteist vote banks and counter the BJP’s communal polarisation.

Mr. Nitish Kumar has also announced a one-time grant of Rs. 2 lakhs to 94 lakh poor families. This is based on the caste survey’s statistics which had showed that 94 lakh families in Bihar—34 per cent of 2.67 lakh families in the state—were surviving on an income of less than Rs. 6,000 a month.

Entailing a huge outlay, the benefits of the scheme are doubtful as handing cash only discourages enterprise and leads to inflation.

Wasteful expenditure is mostly the outcome if money comes without earning it. It may serve the immediate motive of wooing the electorate, but will only make the people accustomed to doles.