CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNANCE AND SECULARISM

RESERVATION

ABSTRACT

Caste based differentiation is still prevailing in our country. At the beginning it was rooted
in race and developed based on occupation in tuning with the feudal society. The cast based
reservation system has radiated many discussions, controversies and riots both in favour and
against the policy. Some of the people believe that the system can protect and uplift the
backward communities in the society. At the same time some argues that caste based
reservation cannot change the condition of these communities. The caste based reservation
policy contradicts the principle of secularism which is the main mantra of our nation rather
that boosting up the weaker communities in the country. This paper analyses how caste
system originated, its history, post independence scenario and the measures taken by the
Government to uplift the weaker sections of the society. Further it also makes an attempt to
study the reservation and quota system in the country, also its impacts. The paper examines
whether the existing system of reservation protects the backward communities or not. It also
suggests that these reservation quotas should be based on economic criteria rather than caste
based so that people of the weaker section will be benefited.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to all those, who have directly
or indirectly guided and helped us in doing this paper. First of all we would like to thank God
almighty who bestowed us the ability and potential to complete this paper. Second, we would
like to thank Smt. Vinatadevi Tope Social Service League of Government Law College,
Mumbai for this great opportunity. Thirdly we sincerely thank our dean of “VIT Law School
Chennai and MNLU Aurangabad for providing us a platform to express our views. We would
also like to express our sincere gratitude to our professors Dr.Subhakar Reddy (VIT Law

© MELNA JOSEPH & ABHISHEK JHA

School, Chennai). We are thankful and fortunate enough to get constant support,
encouragement and guidance from all our friends who helped us in successfully completing
our paper. Finally our family members, without their immense support the completion of this
paper would have been impossible.

INTRODUCTION

Reservation is the process of allotting some percentage of seats for the members of backward
and under-privileged communities. Caste is a social term which means a group of people
having a specific social rank. In India these groups are traditionally arranged in hierarchical
order. This arrangement of order is called Chatur Varna system. According to this system
people were divided as Brahmans; priests and the learned class, then Kshatriyas; rulers and
warriors including property owners, Vaishyas; traders and Shudras; labourers. The
untouchable people occupy a space which is outside the Varna system. Their jobs considered
them to be impure and hence they are called untouchables. These people were not even
allowed in temples and other public places. These people have faced a lot of harassment and
discrimination from the dominant castes. The practice of untouchability was legally
abolished by the Indian constitution and brought measures for positive discrimination in
educational institutions and public services for backward classes who lie within the caste
system. Reservation based on caste was brought up for the upliftment of under-privileged
classes of people. The constitution enforced these policies to provide more opportunities for
the betterment of these people. The Government’s approach towards the backward classes
was been shaped by the provisions in the constitution which guarantees equality before law
and permits the state to make special provisions to promote the educational and economic
interests of the backward classes and to give legal and other safeguards against
discrimination. According to article 15(4) the state has reserved seats for SC/ST students in
educational institutions. These provisions are encouraged by a number of financial schemes
like concession in fees, scholarships, grants for books, remedial coaching etc.1 There are
different types of reservation like reservation for women, physically challenged,
economically backward class, scheduled caste and tribes etc. as the time passes its meaning
and the way it has been understood by the people has made us think that it is not used in

1
Suma Chitnis, (1972)” Education for Equality: Case of Scheduled Castes in Higher Education”, economic and
political weekly, Vol. 7, No. 31/33, pp. 1675-1681, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4361677

© MELNA JOSEPH & ABHISHEK JHA

proper way for what it was made. Caste has become a tool in the hands of the Government
for their political ends. The objective of upliftment of backward class has been overtaken by
the greed for personal need and growth through segmentation and politicization of castes and
new additions are being made to the list due to political pressure instead of any analysis to
identify the backward classes.

REVIEW OF LITRETURE

In this paper we have referred to some of the research papers regarding the topic for reference
and guidance. Brij Raj Chauhan (1975) “Scheduled Caste and Education” has studied about
the spread of education among scheduled castes and identified the problems faced by them to
avail education. C Parvathamma (1982) “Housing in Rural Karnataka”, has examined the
condition of the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and referred to the dominance of upper
class in higher education. Anirudh Prasad (1991) “Reservation Policy and Practice in India”
has studied that the society is segmented between reservationists and anti-reservationists and
infighting has encouraged casteism to evolve as the largest political party. Haroobhai Mehta
and Hasmukh Patel (1991) “ Dynamics of Reservation Policy “, highlighted the issues
regarding the reservation for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward classes
and also analyzed the need for the implementation of reservation policy. Hirmanmay
Karlekar (1992) “In the Mirror of Mandal: Social Justice, Caste, Class and the Individual”,
studied and analyzed the concepts of caste and class and explained what constitutes social
justice. S.N. Singh (1996) “Reservation Policy for Backward Classes”, studied the reports of
SC/ST/OBC commissions of Government of India and referred to some of the judgements by
the Supreme Court and High Court regarding reservation and further studied the role of
judiciary in protective discrimination. B.K Roy Burman (1992) “Beyond Mandal and after”
studied the social and political process in the colonial period which resulted in the framing of
the constitution and about the positive discrimination in favour of the backward classes in the
Indian population. R. G Misra and Gurvinder Kaur (1990) “Reservation Policy and Personnel
Selection”, examined the efforts made by the constitution framers, also discussed the roster
system, special development measures to help the entry of the backward classes in
educational institutions, services and determined their impact. A .K Vakil (1975)
“Reservation Policy and Scheduled Castes in India”, studied the various elements of
reservation policy with the perspective of constitutional ideology and its implementation. He
also recommended certain ideas to make the reservation policy more acceptable by analysing
its impact on education, employment and economic conditions. Jacob Aikara (1980)

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“Scheduled Castes and Higher Education” studied about the scheduled castes college students
in Bombay. The author found out that in comparison with the non- scheduled caste students
the scheduled castes students are inferior in education, occupation, economic and academic
background. There was a high rate of stagnation and dropouts among scheduled castes
students than the non- scheduled castes students. R Santakumari (1980) “Scheduled Castes
and Welfare –Measures “, concentrated on various parameters of scheduled caste
communities in Kerala State. Mahendrakumar Meshram and V.J. Nandapurkar (2012)
“Educational Development of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe”, studied that education
is the main factor of development and how can it be brought out effectively for the betterment
of the country. Soran Singh (1987) “Scheduled Castes of India: Dimensions of social
change”, examined the changes in socio-economic conditions of the scheduled tribes in
jaunpur district situated in eastern U.P.

CASTEISM - FROM 18th century India to independent India

EARLY VEDIC TO SECOND URBANISATION: EVOLUTION

The caste system what we see today, is a complex form of the two basic divisions of the early
Vedic society. The Aryan and the indigenous people, both of these classes were divided on
the basis of two distinguished qualities: Racial differences - The indigenous people were
relatively of darker complexion than the Aryans , also the Aryans were people of pastoral
nature so they constantly kept on raiding and invading the strongholds of the indigenous
people .Language differences - The Aryans spoke Indo-Aryan .

Gradually after the invasion, aryans changed their lifestyle. From being people of a pastoral
tribe they became settled and started doing agriculture, this was a huge change and changed
the course and dynamics of the society of that period of time. The Aryans started mixing up
with indigenous people and the society started coming into being .The indigenous people
were known as the dasas.

This dasas, had a different definition then what it became after few centuries, I.e. slaves.
Dasas at this time meant the indigenous people.

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The early vedic tribes needed a protector to ensure the safety of the tribe and the cattle, so
this led to the development of a warrior clan, “Vis”, “Vispati” or the tribe chief known as
Raja.

The class of Aryans who knew the Rig-Veda went onto become the priests as everything
based on the Vedas and it was an integral part of the society.

Thus, this is how the ‘Varna’ system was coming into shape.

Towards the end of the Atharvaveda period, new class distinctions emerged. The
erstwhile dasas are renamed Shudras, probably to distinguish them from the new meaning
of dasas slave. The aryas are renamed Vis or Vaishyas (meaning the members of the tribe)
and the new elite classes of Brahmins (priests) and Kshatriyas (warriors) are designated as
new Varna’s. The Shudras were not only the erstwhile dasas but also included the tribes that
were assimilated into the Aryan society gradually due to expansion in the gageticplains. 2

Later Vedic period (1000–600 BCE)

In the late vedicperiod, the Varna system became more prominent and the society became
more complex. Now, the Varna system had many subdivisions as well. The artisans also
came under the category of shudras. Now Varna’s started to determine the type of job one
does and everything slowly started being based on hereditary.

Second urbanization (500–200 BCE)

Our knowledge of this period is supplemented by Pali Buddhist texts. By this time
geographical divisions became more important than tribal divisions. The concept of area
came and the position of ‘raja ‘became more important and was just not a mere protector but
was also responsible for the governance. TheBrahmanical texts speak of the four-
fold Varna system - The Brahmins, kshatriyas, vaishyas and the shudras. In the Buddhist
texts, Brahmin and Kshatriyas are described as jatis rather than Varna’s. They were in fact
the jatis of high rank. The jatis of low rank were mentioned as chandala and occupational
classes like bamboo weavers, hunters, chariot-makers and sweepers.

The Brahmin class maintained its superiority and was the highest in the social order and had
the right to use the lower class for any work. Buddha responds by pointing out the basic facts
of biological birth common to all men and asserts that the ability to draw service is obtained

2
Thapar, R. (2015). The Penguin history of early India: from the origins to AD 1300. Penguin UK.

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economically, not by divine right. Using the example of the northwest of the subcontinent,
Buddha points out that aryas could become dasas and vice versa. This form of social mobility
was endorsed by Buddha .Thus; the emergence of Buddhism was a turning point and affected
the social order remarkably.

Medieval era, Islamic Sultanates and Mughal empire period (1000 to 1750)

This was an era of change as new cultures and religion came to India and this led to the
creation of a something unique. The continuous invasions by Islamic rulers, also , years of
maurya , gupta and rajput rule had changed and redefined the social status of many sub caste
and the social order of the society . Now, the battles and invasion happened on a large scale
and therefore classes like the warrior was not confined to the Kshatriya Varna. The troops
had along with the kshatriyas , the vaishyas and the shudras too .Peter Jackson, a academic of
Medieval History and Muslim Asian nation states that, contrary to the theoretical model of
caste wherever Kshatriyas solely may be warriors and troopers, historical proof confirms that
Hindu warriors and troopers throughout the medieval era enclosed different castes like
Vaishyas and Shudras.3

Jamal Malik states that caste as stratification may be a well-studied Indian system,
nevertheless proof additionally suggests that hierarchal ideas, category consciousness and
stratification had already occurred in Islam before Islam arrived in Asian nations.

F caste, or 'qaum' in Islamic literature, is mentioned by a couple of Islamic historians of

medieval Asian nation, states leader; however these mentions relate to the fragmentation of
the Muslim society in Asian nations. The medieval era Islamic Sultanates in India utilized
social stratification to rule and collect tax revenue from non-Muslims. Eaton states that,
"Looking at Bengal's Hindu society as a whole, it seems likely that the caste system – far
from being the ancient and unchanging essence of Indian civilization as supposed by
generations of Orientalises – emerged into something resembling its modern form only in the
period 1200–1500"

Post Mughal era: the eighteenth century

Sharma, R. S. (1958). Shudras In Ancient India.

3

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.The colossal Mughalrealm, the envy of its peers for right around two centuries, declined and
crumbled amid the primary portion of the eighteenth century.

By 1803 Delhi was occupied by the British army and the proud Mughal emperor was
reduced to the status of mere pensioner of a foreign power.

After this, several other powers within the span of 1600-1800 rose and fell and ultimately
came under the control of the British.

The study of the process of the decline of all these empires and powers is an instructive one ,
and reveals the flaws in the economic , political , technological , statesmanship and the social
aspect .

The social aspect had been and has been the most important reason or aspect responsible for
the chane I the conditions of India.

In the case of Mughals, Aurangzeb was not willing to accept the Maratha power; also he
could not sustain the relation between the rajputs and the Mughal Empire.

People at this time were divided by religion, region, tribe, language and caste, who formed a
tiny minority of the total population, was in many aspects not quite the same as the life and
culture of the lower classes. Therefore, the upper class of Hindus as well as Muslims shared
the same status and was more similar and the same happened with lower class Hindus and
Muslims.

Before the British conquests, in the eighteenth century the Indian society which comprised of
mainly Hindus and Muslims was more divided on the basis of classes or castes rather than
religion.

The rulers of the eighteenth century for example, MurshidQuili khan in Bengal, Tipu Sultan
in Mysore, the rulers of Awadh, Hyderabad had Hindus as their high officials and in some
cases, as their prime ministers. For example, the state of Hyderabad ruled by Nizam-ul-
mulkAsafJah had Puran Chand as hid Dewan.

Caste was the central feature of the social life of the Hindus .Aside from the four Varna’s;
Hindus were partitioned into various ranks which differed in their nature from place to place.
The caste system rigidly divided people and fixed them in a particular place in the social
scale.

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India in the eighteenth century became a land of contrast, extreme poverty existed side by
side with extreme riches and luxury .On the one hand, there were rich and powerful nobles
steeped in luxury and comfort and on the other hand backward, oppressed and impoverished
peasants living at the bare subsistence level and having to bear all sorts of injustices and
inequities.

“Even so the life of the Indian masses was by and large better than it was after over hundred
years of British rule at the end of the nineteenth century.”

BRITISH ERA

During the course of Indian conquest, the British changed the socio-political situations of the
Indian society, changed the definitions of the existing societal divisions.

Although the Varna’s and Jatis have pre-modern origins, the caste system as it exists today is
the result of developments during the post-Mughal period and the British colonial regime,
which made caste organisation a central mechanism of administration.

Caste had been much fuzzier, a much more fungible identity in the past. The whole notion of
the ChaturVarna system being imposed as the only way India was supposed to be was
because of the British looked at it that way. "So the Brits in the whole procedure of
attempting to comprehend India ordered and systematized things - it was a method for
controlling India."

POST INDEPENDENCE:

Societal stratification, and the inequality that comes with it, still exists in India, and has been
thoroughly criticized. Government policies aim at reducing this inequality by reservation,
quota for backward classes, but paradoxically also have created an incentive to keep this
stratification alive.

Loosening of caste system

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Leonard and Weller have overviewed marriage and genealogical records to ponder examples
of exogamous between station and endogamous intra-position relational unions in a territorial
populace of India in 1900– 1975. They report a striking nearness of exogamous relational
unions crosswise over position lines after some time, especially since the 1970s. They
propose instruction, financial advancement, portability and more collaboration between youth
as conceivable purposes behind these exogamous relational unions.

A 2003 article in The Telegraph guaranteed that between station marriage and dating were
regular in urban India. Indian societal and family connections are changing a direct result of
female proficiency and training, ladies at work, urbanization, the requirement for two-pay
families, and worldwide impacts through TV. Female good examples in legislative issues, the
scholarly community, news coverage, business, and India's women's activist development
have quickened the change.

Caste-related violence
Independent India has witnessed caste-related violence. According to a 2005 UN report,
approximately 31,440 cases of violent acts committed against Dalits were reported in
1996. The UN report claimed 1.33 cases of violent acts per 10,000 Dalit people. For context,
the UN reported between 40 and 55 cases of violent acts per 10,000 people in developed
countries in 2005.One example of such violence is the Khairlanji massacre of 2006.4

MEASURES TAKEN BY THE GOVERNMENT TO COMPAT TO THESE ISSUES

Caste is the all-ubiquitous feature of Indian society. Varna is a predominant concept

underlying the Hindu society. It isn't just about the way how society is organized yet in
addition it has turned into a piece of a man's personality. The modern day class and caste
conflict in India follows its root to the Varna system. Under the caste system the Brahmins
placed top of the hierarchy followed by kshatriyas, vaishyas, and shudras not only in terms of
social position but also in terms of economy, education and so on. In India reservation was
prevailing even before the independence. In the year 1882 a commission called the hunter
commission was appointed, where Mahatma Jyotirao Phule made a demand for free and
compulsory education for all on the basis of reservation or representation in the government
job. Maharaja of Kolhapur in Maharashtra in the year 1902 introduced reservation in favour

Engineer, A. (Ed.). (1997). Communal riots in post-independence India. Universities Press.

4

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of the backward classes to eliminate poverty and give them opportunity to take part in the
state administration. This created a fifty percent reservation for backward classes or
communities in the state of Kolhapur. This notification was the first government order to
bring them up. In the year 1921 Madras presidency introduced communal G O in which 44%
reservation for non-Brahmins, 16% for Brahmins, 16% for Muslims, 16% for Anglo Indians
or Christians and 8% for scheduled castes. After independence the constitution of India came
into force in 1950. The Kalelkar commission was introduced to determine the situation of the
people who were socially and educationally backward. In the year 1963 the court has put up
50% on reservations.5The Mandal commission was introduced in 1979 and in 1980 they
submitted a report and recommended to bring up changes to the quotas that existed which
increased from 22% to 49.5%.Mandal commission recommendations were implemented in
government jobs by Vishwanath Pratap Singh in 1990. There was a separate 10% reservation
for the poor among the forward castes which were put up by the Narasimha Rao government
in 1991.The constitution of India made a provision under article 341 which clearly says about
the social groups which were to be treated as SCs by the Indian Government and States.
Article 15(1) and (2) specifically mentions that there should not be any restrictions on the
basis of religion, caste, race, sex or place of birth of a person to access or use public places.
Article 15(3) and (4) are the foundation of reservation in the country which empowers the
state to make special provisions for women, children and for the upliftment of social and
educational backward or SC/STs respectively. Article 15(5) was made to provide reservation
for admission in educational institutions including schools and colleges even if t aided or not
aided by the government. To protect the educational and economic interest of the SC/STs the
constitution made special provisions like political reservations which are mentioned in article
(330 and 332), reservation of seats in educational institutions (15(4), 29 and 46), reservation
of government jobs (16(4), 320(4), 333, 335). The Constitution also provides equality before
law and positive legal measures against the disabilities based on birth (Articles 15(2); 29(2),
35, 244 and 371(a)). In 1995 parliament by 77th constitutional amendment inserted article
16(4) (A) which permits reservation in promotions to the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes
and OBCs. In 2005 the Supreme Court passed a unanimous judgment stating that the state
can't impose its reservation policy on minority and non-minority unaided private colleges,
including professional colleges.6 For ensuring reservations 93rd constitutional amendment was

5
( Balaji v Mysore,1963)

6 (Inamdar & ors. V State of Maharashtra & ors , 2005)

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brought up. On 3rd January 2007, The Central Educational Institutions Act came into force.
The act focuses to provide reservation for the students who belong to SC/ST/OBC in certain
central education institutions which is established and maintained by Central Government. In
9th march 2010 a bill was passed in Rajya Sabha for the reservation of women. Hence these
were the steps taken by the government to abolish the caste system and to uplift the
backwards.

RESERVATION AND QUOTA SYSTEM

India is a huge country with people from different ethnicity and religion. Since there is an
unbending caste system in the country the government faces a lot of challenges to provide
education to all the people from all the religions and backgrounds. Earlier it was difficult to
provide education to the weaker section of the society. For this purpose reservation or quota
system was brought up in the education system in India. As it is said in the article 15(1) of
the Indian constitution affirms that the state should not discriminate any citizen on the basis
of caste, religion, sex, race, place of birth. Caste was always recognised as a class7. In favour
of the disadvantaged people the state also provides them a compensatory or protective
discrimination. It is clearly stated in the Indian constitution that the state can make special
provisions for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes or for the
scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. The Mandal commission who submitted the report
also recommended that institutions like scientific, technical and professional which is run by
the central as well as the state government should have 27% of reservation. The total
percentage of the reservation should not exceed 50%of the seats which was earlier ruled by
the Supreme Court. At the time of giving approval to the government order for the
implementation of the recommendations which was given by the Mandal commission as their
report, the Supreme Court not only limited overall reservation to 50%, but it also inserted an
exclusion clause under the name of “creamy layer”.8 There are different varieties of
reservation not only based on caste, which is based on women, non resident Indians,
physically handicapped, migrant from J&K, sports quota, Anglo-Indian community, NCC
quota, children of defence personnel, children of Ex servicemen, children of political
sufferers, Government of India Nominees. Reservation was even in selection posts in
railways for SC/ST.9 According to the Indian constitution it is mandatory that all the

7 ( A. Peeriakaruppan v State of Tamil Nadu, 1970) ,( P Rajendran v State of Madras, 196)

8 ( Indra Sawhney v union of India, 1993)
9 ( Akhil Bharathiya Soshit Karamchari Sangh v Union of India, 1980)

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minorities either based on religion or language should have the right to establish and
administer institutions of their choice. Admissions in the minority educational institutions
there have to be two categories like category I- 50% of the seats should be for the candidates
belonging to the minority community which has established the institution and category II-
50% of the seats for candidates for communities which are other than the minority
community.10 Admissions are regulated through the state level common entrance for all the
states.

BACKFIRING EFFECTS OF RESERVATION

There are a lot of controversies regarding the reservation system in India. People who are in
favour of the quota system find it a positive step to make education accessible towards people
of every section of the society. The students of the backward castes lagged behind as they
didn’t have enough opportunities which normal people in normal institutions used to get.
Quota system served as a medium which gives them a fair chance and equal right for
education. At the same time it is also criticised by different groups. The people who are
against the quota system believe in merit and considers that reservation is a tool that kills
merit and true deserving candidates. It creates a disadvantage for the deserving candidates
who have worked hard and scored good marks but couldn’t get admissions as the seat was
already allotted to the candidates who didn’t even meet the criteria in the name of reservation.
The reservation policy was only for ten years after the independence for the upliftment of
backward classes but still it is continuing and no one has taken any effort to revise it, amend
it or change it. Only a very few get scholarships based on merit. Most of the aid is given to
the people who belong to OBC, SC, ST, and other minorities. The aspiring students of upper
caste who are financially weak are suppressed. The seats reserved for SC/ST are not used
properly as it should be used. Most of the seats are used by the privileged people of SC/ST
which made difficult for the poor SC/ST people to benefit from it. The system of reservation
results in the quality of the graduates. The morale of outstanding students is diminishing as
the criteria are based on reservation rather than merit. It is a form of ethnic discrimination
they only favours a particular group of people. People who get admission in institutions like
AIMS, IIMS, NLU, and IIT because they are good. Due to reservation the quality of these
institutions will go down as the people with low marks will also be given admission on the
basis of reservation. Also many of the graduates from these institutions will not be able keep
the standards of the institutions. Some medical colleges the admission was in favour of

10 (St. Stephen’s College vs University of Delhi, 1992)

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candidates who are from rural and hilly areas on the grounds that people from rural areas are
poor and people from urban areas are financially sound.11 The reservation policy and its
continuance will increase the caste gap in spite of decreasing it. It is disappointing to see a
well deserving and talented person with a promising future to lose out to another less
deserving candidate because he is from a reserved section of the society. For many years it
has been spotted that upper class people have started doing malpractices like securing
admissions to professional colleges by false certificates states that they belong to SC/ST.
Reservation has led to disappointment and depression among students job seekers who are
not able to get admission for the required courses and jobs. Nowadays reservation policy is an
electoral tool which bluntly promotes caste over intellect and hard work. Due to this we are
producing engineers, doctors, bureaucrats and other professionals who are substandard. Many
of them try for management quota in educational institutions to get admission. People who
are financially stable can afford management seats. What about who are economically
backward? They are forced to forget about their efforts and dreams.

ANALYSIS AND SUGGESTIONS

Since the past 70 years nothing has changed which proves that we have wasted our time and
energy in the wrong direction. We have failed extremely to bring up the under-privileged at
an equal footing with rest of the society. The reservation policy have paralysed a section of
society permanently obstructed their upward mobility by killing their avidity to work hard
and be rewarded. No one will work hard if one gets an opportunity and other benefits without
burning the midnight oil. This kind of lethargy should not be encouraged and the policy
should be constructed in such a way as to harness the real cream of every section of the
society in spite of their caste or community for the enhancement of the society. A policy
should be made which helps people who are deprived of education and means of better life.
Reserving certain seats in higher education and jobs is not going to solve the problems which
are faced by the 85% of the total backward classes. The abolishment of the reservation quota
and a better system of affirmative action should be brought up for the benefit of whole nation.
The policies of reservation should be repudiated and disconnected. We could develop a
system to find people who are economically back for their upliftment. Reservation should not
be given to those who are financially sound and belong to the SC/ST.12 We can propose that a
family which has already received the reservation benefits once should not be allowed to

11 (State of Uttar Pradesh v Pradeep Tandon, 1974)

12 ( Kumari K.s. Jayasree& Anr v State of Kerala &Anr,1976)

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avail it in the next generation. After reaching a self sufficiency the backward classes should
be put in general category which will make the term reservation more meaningful. The rural-
urban gap should me done immediately and effectively. This gap creates weaker sections of
the society. These people should be given basic facilities. People who are rich can provide
education for their children and does not the protection offered by reservation policy. In
today’s scenario the correlation between the economically backward and the lower caste may
not be as strong as it was earlier. Irrespective of the caste the poor people should be
benefitted from this. Everyone should be given an equal opportunity with adequate resources
to prove their worth.

CONCLUSION

As the globalisation and urbanisation is expanding the caste loyalties are weakening and new
parameters to define social backwardness should be identified. The constitution assures
equality to all the citizens and provides a non –discrimination by the state in all aspects. It
ensures and makes the state to treat all citizens equally and allows equality on the basis of
status and opportunity. Secularism was one of the main parameter which was decided by our
fore-fathers in the framing of constitution. The main goal was to convert a society that was
fragmented on the basis of religion, cast, and economic status into a homogeneous society
where a person is identified on the basis of what he is or what he has made himself into. The
system of reservation was adopted in India for the upliftment of backward classes, who were
subjected to atrocities, due to dominance of caste system in Hindu Society. Education means
merit and recognition should also be through merit rather than depending on reservation. In
modern era this reason has lost its essence and the people should actually be benefitted are
not being benefitted and others are reaping benefits out of the reservation system. We need to
spot the one who are oppressed, needy and penurious. Then we have to provide them with
facilities like financial backing, education and opportunities. People with talent and hard
working should be accepted rather than blindly guaranteeing anyone to assure a future solely
based on caste even though they are least deserving. Our country wants the best people for its
development and not who are just making use of undeserved benefits because they belong to
certain section of the society luckily marked by the constitution as underprivileged.

© MELNA JOSEPH & ABHISHEK JHA

© MELNA JOSEPH & ABHISHEK JHA