Indian Book Chronicle

Vol. IX, No. 18, Seipt 16, 1984

BOOKS REVIEWED

. .(;

Law & the Backward Classes

The question of reservations in legislatures, services and insti-;' tutions of higher learning for the disadvantaged sections of the India population have not only raised deep passions leading to violence in different parts of India from time to time. This policy Maro GalaiTter of compensatory discrimination is meant to safeguard the inteLaw and the Backward Classes in India 305 rest of the historically deprived groups in Indian society. There is considerable debate whether this policy is not an unfair Don Dignon measure as it discriminates againsts merit and promotes ineffiThe Indiap Revolutionary ciency. So long as the policy was confined to the scheduled castes Problem in British Diplomacy and tribes which have been specifically named in the constitution, 1914-1919 308 the opposition was not so strong. But the idemand for its extension on a large scale to the other backward classes has led to S. L. Roy a storm of protest from the affected sections of the population. 312 Diplomacy Compensatory discrimination has been utilised to offset some of the entrenched and cumulative group inequalities in the InR. S. Khare dian social system. (It is an effort to redress the balance in favour Normative Culture and Kinship:' Essays on Hindu Categories, of equality which has been embraced as a cardinal value inthe Proce.ss and Perspectives 313 Indian constitution. The policy '.combines two objectives, viz the anti discrimination objective and the general welfare objective. It Bhola Chatterjee is a kind of reparation to offset the systematic deprivation suffer314 Conflict in J.P.'s Politics ed by those at the bottom of Indian 'society. This book deals with not only the policy but about the role of Indian judiciary Surendranath Dwivedy in developing, elaborating, criticising, effectuating and legitimiQuest for Socialism: Fifty sing it. Years of Struggle in India 314
Robert M. Grnden, Manoj Joshi and R.V.H. Chandrasekhar, . Editors New Perspective on America & South Asia K: Munirathna Naidu, Editor Area Planning for Regional Development COMPENSATORY DISCRIMINATION PROGRAMMES

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Indian Book Chronicle 2/26, Sarva Priya Vihar NEW DELHI-110016 Telephone: 660738

The policy of compensatory discrimination includes a large package of preferential schemes. The most iprominent of all such schemes is the reservation of seats in elective legislative bodies both at the national and state levels. The reservations do not involve separate electorate. Seats are reserved in proportion of scheduled castes and tribes to the total population of each state. The reservations are for a specific period which has been extended from time to time. In spite of this, one is not very sure about the quality of representation. It is difficult to assess as how well served are the voters of the scheduled constituencies, in view of Marc Galanter, Law and lihe Backward Classes in India, pp. 625, Oxford University Press, 1984, Rs. 160.00.

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INDIAN BOOK CHRONICLE

the fact that the great majority of the scheduled caste people live the office of the Commissioner outside scheduled constituencies. Reservations have also been pro- for Scheduled Castes and Tribes vided in the services not only for members of scheduled castes and which had been created .to act s tribes but also in some stales for the other backward classes. a watchdog, this responsibility Simarly reservations have also been made for men in educahas all the more devolve^ on tional institutions. the courts. However, the judicial THE TARGET GROUPS encounter with compensatory discrimination is very selective. : The author has given considerable attention to the issue of ide^ifying the beneficiaries of the policy of compensatory dis- Firstly, those who invoke, the crimination. For the scheduled caste and tribes he has delved into courts are people who do not the colonial past to throw light on this issue. It has been shown only have something substantial that even for the scheduled castes and tribes the question has at stake but have also financial not been .'very easy and it is not possible to formulate general or organisational resources to purcriteria tq justify the inclusion of all the communities named sue it. Secondly, preferential in the .President's order. This has led to the revision of the lists treatment tends to inpinge heavily on relatively a few individuals. from time to time. Thirdly, the setting and configuHowever, the real difficulty comes in the case of the other ration of parties make it difficult backward classes. At the state and the central levels several for courts to give weight to long committees and commissions have gone into, this problem and term interest embodied in the produced a variety or recommendations. This leads us to the compensatory discrimination pringeneral question of measures of backwardness and whether cas- ciple. tes could be treated as classes. The constitution lists as benefeThe limitations of the courts ciaries for preferential treatment not backward individuals or can be understood if we think of families nor backward castes, religious communities, occupational compensatory discrimination asa or regioinfll groups but backward classes of citizens. These classpecial irrigation scheme designed ses are not restricted to the economic or social classes, that is, to bring life-giving water to lands in the senses familiar to modem social science. which have long been parched This raises two debatable issues. First, whether entire com- and sterile as a result of neglect munities could be designated as backward and the second whe- and oppression. The courts can ther caste ranking can be used as 'a criterian of its backwardness. only close down the illicit diverFrom time to time Indian courts have given their opinion on sion but they cannot dig new these matters.. Unfortunately these. opinions are not uniform. The channels or deepen the existing Subba Rao judgement dislfavoured the interpretation of classes ones. The courts can act as a as castes, since this would enable the exploitation of preferen- check on the system but they tial treatment by the well-off sections within groups which are cannot quicken its working. The largely backward. Contrary views have been expressed by some only effective remedy is people's other courts. willing appreciation of the necesThe most dmportant criteria of backwardness are low levels sity for compensatory dj.=;crimiof education in the community and its social backwardness which nation. emphasises its rank, status and prestige, absence of resources and the opportunities associated with them. Inadequacy of represenCOSTLY SUCCESS tation m services is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for the determination of backwardness. Some times income and occuIt is not possible to^ attempt a pation of communities are also used as tests of backwardness. cost benefit analysis of the policy LIMITS OF JUDICIAL ACTION of^ compensatory discrimination. This policy is designed to pursue The law courts have a central role in the working out of the a multiplicity of incommensurcompensatory discrimination policy. With the denigration of able goals in unspecified mixures

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September 16, 1984 position. In the Indian constitution the two principles pf equality and compensatory discrimination have been finely blended. The compensatory principle has been implemented but it has not been allowed to overshadow the opposing commitments to merit and to formal equality. According to the author "Compensatory discrimination embodies th brave hope of India reboirn that animated the freedom movement and was crystallised in the constitution. If the reality has disappointed many fond hopes, the turn away from the hierarchic model to a pluralist participatory society which has proved both vigorous and enduring." There is a mounting pressure to extend the compulsory discrimination principle in the matter of services and educational faci-r lities to the other backward classes. To do so would end up by establishing a general system of communal allotments which will swallow up tbe principles of merit and equality. Our leaders and decision makers may very well bear this in mind. An incisive and scholarly book. Sachchidananda isi Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at the A.N. Sinha Institute of Social Studies, Patna.

that vary from time to time. There is however, no doubt that this policy has produced substantial redistributive effects. Reserved seats ensure a substantial legislative presence and swell the flow of patronage and attention to the target groups. The reservation of jobs has not only increased their earnings but given much needed security and prestige that goes with government employment. It is quite another matter that such redistribution is not evenly spread throughout the beneficiary groups. The author laments the substantial clustering in the utilisation of thes" opportunities leeading to the emergence of an elite among these groups. Preference programmes are integrative in several ways. They create relations of reciprocity and interdependence between the recepient and other groups. In the long run, education and jobs weaken the stigma attached with tihe scheduled castes and tribes. Compensatory programmes provide, the basis for personal achievement and enlarge the beneficiaries' capacity to mould their old destiny.
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Notwithstanding these gains there are some disturbing costs of compensatory programmes. Tbese policies dampen the morale and initiative of those they intend to help. Other sections of the population have an overestimation of the amount and effectiveness of the preferential treatments. Their jealousy expressed in the term 'Sarkari Brahman' for the beneficiary groups, sometimes turns into enmity and op-