EDITORIALS & ARTICLES

The perils of undoing the framework of reservation

  • From last two decades, India has witnessed growth without proper employment and increased economic insecurity.
  • All India Debt & Investment Survey (AIDIS-2019) survey of 2021 shows the trend of increasing caste inequality for wealth in India.
    • AIDIS collects information of- land, livestock, buildings, agricultural machinery, transport equipment, shares, deposits and amount receivable by the household.
    • About 55% wealth in top quintile is controlled by upper castes followed by 36% OBCs, 5% SCs and 3% tribals.
  • Due to such inequalities, 103rd Constitutional Amendment Act had introduced 10% reservation for the economically weaker sections (EWS) in education and employment among those groups that do not come under any community-based reservation.
    • The decision was based on the principle that each individual regardless of caste and ethnicity should get their share of welfare entitlement.
  • However, concerns have been raised on whether such benefits should be given to a specific community based on their economic backwardness.
    • Such caste neutral policy can reverse positive changes brought by caste-based reservation so far.

Due to such inequalities, 103rd Constitutional Amendment Act had introduced 10% reservation for the economically weaker sections (EWS) in education and employment among those groups that do not come under any community-based reservation.

Concerns over the EWS ruling 

  • Disadvantage experienced by some groups are unique to them and their deprivations require specific resolutions.
    • Thus, reservation should not solely be based on economic criteria like in EWS.
  • Group-based differences in economic and social conditions are inherited and not due to difference in ambitionability and effort.
    • These inherited inequalities- economic, cultural and social capital are passed to successive generations.
    • This leads to intergenerational inequality of wealth prominently among caste.

Due to such inequalities, 103rd Constitutional Amendment Act had introduced 10% reservation for the economically weaker sections (EWS) in education and employment among those groups that do not come under any community-based reservation.

How does wealth inequality is inherited in India?

  • Inequality on caste- basis was rising in India between 1990 and 2020 particularly in the early 2000s.
    • This was severe in the case of wealth, followed by income and consumption inequality.
  • Gini index of wealth inequality has rose from 0.62 in 19920.63 in 2002 and 0.67 in 2012 to 0.68 in 2019.
    • It is in contrast with available consumption of 0.37 and income of 0.54 in 2012.
    • Gini index-is a measure of income inequality ranging from 0(perfect equality) to 1(perfect inequality).
  • Average per capita of wealth among upper castes was 8,03,977 in 2019 against 4,09,792 for OBCs2,28,388 for Dalits and 2,32,349 for tribals.
    • On average, the upper castes own more wealth than thrice of Dalits and twice of OBCs.
    • They hold 45% of the total wealth of country followed by OBCs holding 40%Dalits 10% and Adivasis 5%.
  • It is not income or saving behaviours of individuals that have generated wealth inequality but it is due to historical institutional exclusion of certain caste groups.
  • If we disaggregate wealth, then land and building constitute large part of it- 60% and 22%. Respectively, which is then followed by 7% financial assets.
    • Land and buildings are mostly inherited.
  • The land inequality started from British colonial era.
    • Colonial intervention assigned land ownership to some castes at expense of others.
      • This was continued in post-colonial India.
    • India’s land reform did not alter this legacy.
  • The real estate boom post 1990s helped owners of land and buildings to consolidate their wealth as land value increased due to speculation.
  • According to World Inequality Report 2022- Ratio of private wealth to national income increased from 290% in 1980 to 555% in 2020.
    • This was fastest increase in the world.
    • This was because India has zero taxation on wealth and inheritance.

Challenges in current policies

  • Caste-neutral policy such as EWS ruling promotes inequality.
    • Such policies cannot address the historical legacies of inequalities.
    • They are insufficient to decrease magnitude of caste gap in wealth.
  • Reservations are singular policy instrument to address caste-based inequality in India.
  • Despite achievements in improving access to education, jobs and enhanced earnings, it failed to address structural inequalities.
  • Improvement in education and access to jobs through EWS quota alone will not decrease gap of generational wealth.
  • Reversing existing framework of reservation by substituting caste with economic criteria will reverse gain made so far and will increase structural inequality.

Due to such inequalities, 103rd Constitutional Amendment Act had introduced 10% reservation for the economically weaker sections (EWS) in education and employment among those groups that do not come under any community-based reservation.

Global experience

  • Loss of social and cultural status has caused anxieties among middle classes are increasing in many countries where affirmative action has taken place.
  • In United States gains brought by affirmative action for Black Americans had received ‘White backlash’ or ‘White rage’.
    • It is similar to anti-reservation action by introducing the EWS quota in India.
    • It is not able to withstand differences in histories of caste and race- both are durable institutions of inequality.
    • Legacies of these institutions will raise demand for neutral policies like caste-neutral policy in India.

Summing up

Emergence of opinion for a social policy based on universal basis of deprivation on the basis of economic backwardness will increase already existing inequalities. This degree of inequality in any society is a political choice. A just society requires creating a level-playing field that alters legacy of inherited wealth and caste that block life opportunities and choices.







POSTED ON 11-12-2022 BY ADMIN
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