A central theme of the elections this year has been the caste census and the removal of the 50 percent cap that figures prominently in the Congress manifesto. Rahul Gandhi has been speaking about it at almost every campaign meeting and the BJP has not been able to effectively articulate its stand. Is a caste census necessary and should the cap on reservations be lifted?
The 2011 census says 16.6 percent of India’s population are SCs and 8.6 percent STs. The data on OBCs is sketchy, with the government admitting to “errors” in data collection in the 2011 census. The Mandal Commission gave the percentage of OBCs at 52 percent, which declined to 41 percent in a 2006 NSSO survey. This is also contentious as between the 1980s and 2006, an additional 1,500 or so castes were added to the OBC list and such a significant decline was not believed to be feasible.
It is essential to know the caste-wise population to know if the benefits of reservation are reaching beneficiaries in an equitable manner. The reluctance to release data is not specific to the BJP. The Congress, too, carried out a survey in Karnataka in 2015 and did not release the data until February this year, after Rahul Gandhi started hinting at a caste census.
Any talk of higher quotas invariably involves the Tamil Nadu model, the only state to have 69 percent reservation. Though around 93 percent of Tamil Nadu comes under the reserved categories, the fact that it ranks consistently among the top states in most socio-economic, health and education indices is often touted as proof that more reservation could be the answer to persisting inequities.
The Dravidian movement that emerged during the early 20th century was one of powerful landholding classes against the then dominant Brahmin community that occupied most positions of power. Former CM M G Ramachandran felt reservation should be on economic criterions. Faced with strong backlash, he backtracked and went to the other extreme by increasing the 27 percent reservation for backward classes to 50 percent. Together with SC/ST reservations, the total went up to 69 percent. J Jayalalithaa got protection for this under the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution. This has continued despite the Supreme Court verdict in the Indira Sawhney case that capped reservations at 50 percent.
More than reservation, it is welfarism that has catapulted Tamil Nadu to its current position. The midday meal scheme for children was pioneered in the days of late CM K Kamaraj and expanded by MGR. Children studying in government schools get free uniforms, books, footwear, cycles, laptops and don’t pay fees. Healthcare at government hospitals is largely free. The state has the most engineering colleges and among the highest number of medical colleges in the country. The share of school finishers who go to college is the highest. The present government has added a breakfast scheme for school children, free bus travel for women within cities, and a scheme where over 1 crore women get Rs 1,000 a month.
Combined with rapid industrialisation, the welfare measures have moved the state to a higher trajectory. Continuity of policies has also helped. Since 1967, the state has been ruled either by the DMK or AIADMK, both coming from a common ideological base.
But to say Tamil Nadu has a perfect system would be far from the truth. Multiple backward class commissions pointed out how a large chunk of reservation benefits have been cornered by a handful of powerful communities. They have recommended removing some dominant communities from the purview of reservation, but these castes now constitute significant vote banks and no political party dares implement these recommendations.
Dalits remain significantly oppressed, not too different from in many other states. Even today, there are separate burial grounds for Dalits, they are not allowed into some temples, honour killings occur when dominant-caste children marry Dalits, and parties hesitate to let them contest from general constituencies.
Thus the argument that more reservation would automatically lead to dramatic benefits is not borne out by evidence. But there is strong evidence that welfarism leads to better overall development.
The need for a caste census, though, remains. The reason for several parties dragging their feet is the fear of opening a Pandora’s box. What if the census showed that some backward communities were not backward at all? Vote banks would be at risk. Across India, we have seen dominant castes like the Marathas, Jats and Gujjars clamouring for and in many cases getting a share of the pie. How would they react if reservations were withdrawn?
Rahul Gandhi stirred the pot with his “Jitni abadi utna haq” slogan that roughly translates as rights in proportion to population. This is a dangerous proposition even for his party—if the logic was extended to the delimitation exercise due in 2026, the Congress, which is largely a party of southern India today, would be wiped out. The southern states already feel they do not get their fair share from the Centre and the delimitation exercise threatens to take away their existing weightage in parliamentary representation.
Though reservation was always part of the manifestos of parties at every election, this time a lot of the talk is around the Congress game plan. Right now, no one knows for sure. Maybe not even the Congress.
(Views are personal)
Sumanth C Raman | Political analyst, television anchor and author of Sick Business: The Truth Behind Healthcare in India