RESERVATION
– POLITY
News: Constitution Bench to examine
validity of extending reservation of seats for SCs/STs in LS, Assemblies
What's
in the news?
●
A Constitution Bench headed by Chief
Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud decided to examine if clockwork extensions
granted to reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes
(STs) in the Lok Sabha and the State Legislative Assemblies was
constitutionally valid.
Key
takeaways:
●
Originally, the Constituent Assembly under
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar had meant reservation for SCs/STs only for a period of 10
years from the commencement of the Indian Constitution in 1950.
●
However, Article 334 of the Constitution,
which dealt with the time period to cease reserving seats for SCs/ STs and
Anglo-Indians, was amended multiple times over the decades. Every time, the
deadline to stop the reservation was extended by 10 years or so.
●
Starting with the Constitution (8th Amendment) Act in 1969 and all the way up to the
Constitution (104th Amendment) Act in 2019, the deadline was stretched over
and over again.
●
The 2019 Act terminated the reservation
for the Anglo-Indian community and fixed 2030 as the deadline to end the
reservation for SCs/STs in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies. By
2030, the SC/ST communities would have enjoyed reservation for 80 years since
the adoption of the Constitution.
Need
for Reservation in India:
1.
Historical injustice:
●
To correct the historical injustice faced
by backward castes and SC in India like untouchability, prevented from
education, deprivation of land rights, exclusion from government
administration.
2.
Level playing field:
●
To provide a level playing field for
backward sections as they cannot compete with those who have had the access of
resources and means for centuries.
●
The advantages the general categories get
in the form of educated family legacy, economic power, social capital of caste
network is absent for a backward and Dalits of the country. This uneven
competition got levered by the reservation.
3.
Social justice:
●
To ensure adequate representation of
backward classes in the services under the State.
●
The administration should have diverse
representation then only it will be responsive without any monopoly of power.
4.
Equity vs equality:
●
As per Article 15 and 16, the unequals
should be treated unequally to ensure equity.
5.
No harm to efficiency:
●
Still there are various studies to
conclude the administrative inefficiency due to corruption and nepotism.
●
However, no such study supports
inefficiency due to reservation. Hence, reservation is not a harm to
meritocracy.
Argument
Against Reservation:
Is
it time to discontinue the reservation system?