Sir,
Symbolism has been the staple diet of Indian politics. Irrespective of whether parties believe in something or not, when it comes to public posturing they can only take a certain position. And if they dare to defy, they are doomed. Posturing is important, implementation may not be so. The latest instance of such symbolism is the bill passed by both houses of parliament, in perhaps the shortest possible time, providing for 10 percent quota in Government jobs and admission to educational institutions for economically backward families belonging to the hitherto ineligible upper castes. It is claimed that the new law will cover nearly 95 percent of Indians in the quota system. The importance of symbolism explains the predicament of opposition parties, which did not want to be seen opposing the law, although they knew the real intentions of the Modi government was to win elections and not the welfare of the deprived people.
The quota system itself is more symbolic than administrative. Conceptually, it has been devised as a means to let the eligible sections a position in the decision-making process and by implication a share in the power structure. In theory it sounds fantastic. But in practice, the proportion of Government employees in the total population is estimated to be less than 2 percent. It is certainly an illusion to believe that this fraction of the population can resolve the economic problems of backward communities which constitute the majority of the population. But symbolism matters a lot.
Bringing every Indian under some quota or the other is perhaps not a bad idea. With limited number of opportunities, it will set off fierce competition among the eligible applicants, which will lead to some kind of meritocracy and efficiency in decision making in the Government. And provision of mandatory quotas in the overall reservation could at the same time ensure representation to targeted communities. It would have been easy to solve the problem had there been enough opportunities. But unfortunately, that is not the case. So Modi’s 10 percent quota for the economically backward sections remains just symbolic.
It is time that the Indian policy planners undertook a study on the efficacy of quota system in tackling the economic backwardness of the country’s communities because quotas and quota agitations have not only been putting a premium on efficiency but taking a heavy toll of the economy.
K Raveendran
on e-mail
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