Caste- based reservation

By Saumitra Mohan

The Frankenstein's monster of caste-based reservation in Government and non-Government jobs and academic institutions keeps rising from the ashes like the proverbial Phoenix. The issue which needs discussion and reflection is that as to whether we really need such a thing called reservation. Caste-based reservation should have been discontinued within ten years of the proclamation of the Indian Constitution.

But, if we still have to contend with the reservation demon, the reason lies in our failure to ensure an equitable and egalitarian process of value allocations thereby necessitating the continued existence of the caste-based system.

The truth is that something as obnoxious as caste-based reservation should not have been there at all in the first instance, but as they say a la Aristotle and many others that 'equals should be treated equally and unequals unequally. And in a society wracked by myriad societal divisions including those of caste some remedial measures were required for sure to restore the societal balance before each citizen is able to have an equal opportunity for one's personal growth.

After all, you can not expect those discriminated against for thousands of years to be treated equally with those sections of the society who have dominated the societal pecking order for aeons. If some of us proffer the argument of merit and competence and say that all the sections of the society should be treated equally, the same emanates from the prejudices inherited by us as member of an ossified social hierarchy to which we belong.

We may not even be aware of such prejudices, but still we pronounce and advance them convincingly simply because they suit our own vested interests. After all, there is a world of difference between the societal stratum at the top and bottom of the society in terms of competence, social confidence, cultural capital, social surroundings, appreciation of varied societal realities, understanding of their own self interests and sundry opportunities available.

So, reservation in the garb of 'affirmative discrimination' was needed in the first instance is something beyond doubt, if at all, to facilitate and prepare a level playing field to all sections of the society.

But then, its continued existence can be explained only in terms of competitive and populist politics coupled with an inn- ate inability of our political parties to find better issue for mass mobilisation. Had we succeeded in providing the weaker and marginalised sections of our society with all the bare minimum necessities of human existence, the same people would have revolted against such a system or, at least, the issue of reservation would have ceased to matter in Indian politics.

But the fact remains that even today we have not been able to provide the quality education and health services to all, particularly those on the margins of the society. It has created a status gulf in terms of competence and abilities between the privileged and not-so-privileged sections of the Indian society.

The weaker section of the society is naturally disadvantaged vis-a-vis the socially dominant not only because of a long historical discrimination, but also because of the systemic biases and prejudices heaped against them. Since we could not ensure quality education and health services to them all these sixty yars of our independence whereby they could have competed on equal footing with the historically privileged sections of the society, hence the reservation genie keeps popping out of the bottle.

We know it very well that in a democracy it is the numbers which count. When the weak and underprivileged in an underdeveloped democratic society are left to fend for themselves, they quite naturally fall back on the strength of their numbers. The social demography then starts dictating politics and numbers start doubling up as a resource to be capitalised on for the purpose of improving one's societal status. That is what has been happening in India for quite some time, seeing the rise of many caste-based political parties and interest groups.

If we take a look at the turn of recent political developments, we would find that political parties have become more specialised, representing more or less their caste constituents and the latter also somehow gives credence to such parties in the hope of getting a better deal. So, democratic expression and representation have taken a grotesque turn in Indian society in the form of caste-based reservation and politics.

That is why, India being a plural society of different societal groups is today governed by a coalition Government whose constituents are invariably the representatives of different societal groups. Such groups have been feeding and fattening on identity politics which has been on ascendance in recent times.

These are all the signs of a backward and retrograde society. But such parochial thinking shall continue to dominate our political culture until and unless we succeed in promising and ensuring a real level playing field for all sections of the society. Investment in one's human resources is the first condition for the healthy growth of any society. Recognising this fact, John Stuart Mill had remarked long back, 'You cannot think of becoming a great country with small men with small capacities, small thinking and dubious character.’

Caste-based reservation, however, also has had a functional role in our social system, negative though it may appear prima facie. Be it noted that many of India's time twins in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean have fallen by the wayside in their developmental march. But if India has been growing from strength to strength, the reason somewhere also lies in the way India has tried to balance the different societal forces through a consociational system whereby societal values have been judiciously allocated amongst different sections and strate of the Indian society.

So, while many of these societies saw bloody revolution resulting either in their break-up or their getting reduced to the status of ' a failed society', India has been experiencing a 'passive revolution' where ositive changes have come gradually, through different pulls and pressure, almost to the satisfaction of all.

The recent Supreme Court judgement to exclude the creamy layer from the benefits of reservation should be welcomed, but the exclusion should also be extended to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, because what is sauce fo the goose ought to be the sauce for the gander. The argument which applies to OBCs for exclusion of its creamy layer from the reservation benefits also applies mutatis mutandis to the creamy layer from SCs/STs. However, the concept and criteria of the creamy layer itself suffers from many anomalies and it is advisable to revise and rationalise the same realistically and judiciously.

The Supreme Court observation that graduates be excluded from the reservation benefits does not hold valid given the way graduates in this country are churned out. One would again say that the quality of our education system leaves much to be desired. Recruitment of teachers at the lower and higher levels of our education system is still subject to lots of pulls and pressures, not to speak of the rampant politics which informs our education system. The politicised academic atmosphere often results in the quality of education being severely compromised. Various kinds of interference, pulls and pressures and literally insidious politics have led our education system where we find it today, though there are many exceptions as well. But exceptions are after all exceptions and it is in these exceptional institutions that we need to find out the way to salvation for our pedagogical administration.

Even though caste-based reservation is an anachronism today, but it is part of our social reality and is likely to continue till we can actually claim to have guarranteed the underprivileged and marginalised sections of our society the bare minimum of civic facilities and necessities including quality education and health services. A system of equal opportunities coupled with a reasonably egalitarian and equitable society is what is required before we can hope to hammer the last nail in the coffin of the politics of caste-based reservation. (PTI)

Whom shall Jammu vote for ?
TALES OF TRAVESTY

By Dr. Jitendra Singh

Which way will Jammu go and whom shall Jammu vote for if State Assembly elections were to be held today or at their scheduled time later this year ? This is a question none of the political analysts bother to ask even as they spend hours of electronic time and columns of print space to discuss emerging political trends in the Kashmir Valley. While the socalled Jammu protagonists may attribute this also to what they vociferously describe as discrimination against Jammu, the fact of the matter is that Jammu attracts little discussion because it enjoys the reputation of invariably rallying behind the prospective ruling party without making much difference to the final outcome determined by the seats-tally scored by Kashmir-centric political groups or parties.

As the election momentum catches up and mainstream parties particularly the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and National Conference (NC) engage in a fierce war of wits in demonstrating their concern for the Kashmiri populace, there is a virtual vacuum of leadership in Jammu as a result of which the people of Jammu flock around anybody or everybody who claims to be a leader by virtue of his apparent proximity to the Kashmir leadership.

One does not grudge the political parties and leaders of different hues training political guns at each other for this about all forms the essence of democracy. Jammu is known for its hospitality in hosting public rallies but what is bothersome is the inconvenience caused to general masses by choking all the roads leading to the venue. Since these rallies are used as means for show of strength, to ensure maximum partcipation of people, the latter are brought to the venue herded in buses, metados, etc from distant places by party activists who resort to all sorts of enticement to ensure a sizeable crowd. In the process, all political parties follow the same modus operandi. And, on this account, the people constituting the audience at these rallies deserve all praise for their preseverance to withstand the hardship of waiting long hours to hear from their leaders the same old monotonous rhetoric of sham promises and hypocritic declarations.

Coming back to the subject of Jammu's electoral preferences during the forthcoming Assembly elections, it may be too early to predict whom shall Jammu vote for. But, one thing for which the people of Jammu can be trusted going by the past experience is that they may allow themselves to be swayed in favour of any party be it PDP or NC or Congress... that succeeds in projecting itself as the incoming ruling party. As for the Jammu-centric parties like BJP are concerned, these too hold little promise of forming a government in the State and also little chance of cutting much ice with the Jammu electorate, more so when the local BJP leadership has itself failed to present itself as a serious contender. In the ensuing confusion, however, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has the potential to emerge as the underdog with a visibly improved tally in the next Assembly thus capable of striking an effective bargain in any future ministry formation. At the same time, any independent candidate who succeeds in making it to the future Assembly will enjoy the bargaining potential to extract his or her pound of flesh both in terms of a ministerial berth or monetary compensation during the ensuing coalition ministry formation.

Which way will Jammu go could be carrying some relevance for the politicians engaged in power struggle to capture the seat of governance. For the common man, however, it makes little difference in the sense that whichever party finally succeeds in forming the government, Jammu is unlkely to be rewarded with a place of honour because its leaders have already mortgaged their honour. Poet speaks on Umapathy's behalf ‘‘Jo Tha Gairat Se Bekhabar, Rahnuma Usko Apna Bana Liya !’’

India's new foreign trade policy

By Dr. Sumanjeet

Structural reform have increased the competitiveness of the Indian industry and this is reflected quite vividly in the robust merchandise export growth since 2002-03-exports have grown (in term of US $) by more than 20 per cent per annum. But, the sharp 12 per cent appreciation of the Indian rupee against the US dollar over the past one year has hurt the export performance, especially to the US, where about 20 per cent of India's exports go. The value of exports in 11 months from April 2007 to February 2008 grew by 22.9 per cent from 112.64 billion dollars to 138.40 billion dollars, indicating that India is unlikely to achieve its export target of 160 billion dollar in the fiscal ended March 31. On the other hand, cumulative value of imports in these 11 months was 210.89 million dollars, up 30.21 per cent from 161.96 billion dollar. India's trade deficit in first eleven months of fiscal 2007-08 was estimated at 72.46 billion dollars as against a deficit of 49.32 billion dollars during April'06 - February'07. The ongoing economic slowdown in the US is likely to have negative impact on the exports to other countries too. Combined with the high interest rates, there is significant risk of slowdown in the export growth. Further, rising inflation, which has touched 40 month high of7.4 per cent has cast its shadow on India's foreign trade and policy as well.

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath has tried to consider all these conditions into account in his final annual supplement to Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2004-09. The annual supplement to the FTP setting out an ambitious target of $ 200 billion of exports during 2008-09, was up nearly 25 per cent over the previous year. India aims at achieving 5 per cent market share of the world trade by 2020. This means India would have to ensure an average annual growth rate of 12 per cent over the next 12 years. With the merchandise trade-export and import-of the country currently valued at $ 400 billion, it accounts for about 1.5 per cent of the world trade. Added to this, the final annual supplement to the FTP policy has a simple and clear focus-incentive that will boost jobs. According to Commerce and Industry Minister estimates, every $ 1 billion of incremental exports would create 2.26 lakh new jobs. If exports rise by $ 45 billion, as targeted, the resultant job creation would be a whopping 1.01 crore. It is evident that during the last four years, increased trade activity has created 136 lakh new jobs.

In order to achieve the export target, Mr. Nath announced a slew of 'innovative steps' that included extension of Duty Entitlement Pass Book (DEPB) scheme till May 2009; extension of the interest subvention scheme where exporters are given bank credit at reduced rate of 6 per cent. This would put mean an outgo of Rs. 1,050 crore from the exchequer in the current year. The move is likely to provide relief to the exporters who have been hit hard by the rupee appreciation in the last one year. Extension of the DEPB would be without any changes in the implementation process. The DEPB scheme was originally to expire on March 31, 2008. Last month the cabinet has withdrawn DEPB benefits on the items such as cement, steel, manganese and ferro chrome to improve the supply situation in the domestic market, in order to tackle the rising inflation.

The Minister also extended income tax exemption to 100 per cent Export Oriented Units (EOUs). The benefit which was to end on March 31, 2009, will now end on March 2010. Various export organization, including Federation of Indian Export Organization (FIEO), had been lobbying for an extension. There are more than 2,300 EOUs in the country. However, the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) scheme, which also faces uncertainty over continuation of the tax benefits, will not get advantages of EOUs. Policy also announced additional duty free credit of 2.5 per cent under the 'Vishesh Krishi Gram Upaaj Yojana (VKGUY) to boost export of fruits, vegetables and flowers besides giving 6 per cent interest annually to exporters if refunds are not made within one month of the due date. Further, the policy announced tax refunds and interest subsidies to a spate of export segments that are labour intensive in nature such as marine products, leather, textiles and handicrafts and 5 per cent additional duty credit for export of toys and sports goods.

Though the trade policy focuses on the boosting exports, the annual supplement to the foreign trade policy-with an eye on the rising inflation-has banned cement exports. This could be followed by ban on export of primary steel. The policy has already withdrawn all the other benefits that were available to the steel products. It is expected that the above steps would improve the availability of steel and cement in the domestic market and it will automatically check on the rising prices of these commodity. But, the ban on export of cement is not likely to have any significant impact on the domestic prices since Indian cement manufacturers exported only 3.3 million tons (2 per cent of total production) during the 11 month period till February 2008, as against the total production of 151.24 million tonnes, according to Cement Manufacturers' Association. To discourage cement exports, the government had recently withdrawn Duty Entitlement Pass Book benefit on cement. Further, to curb inflation, government has banned exports of non-basmati rice, edible oil and pulses. In case of the ban on export of non-basmati rice, it is likely to have positive impact on the domestic prices since each year 4 million tons of non basmati rice are exported. But, when it went to 5 million tons last fiscal, the alarm bell rang and a ban on this type of rice was imposed as an advance action to avert domestic supply short fall. Seeking to address surging inflation and sharp dollar depreciation amid the economic slowdown, the policy cuts down customs duty in capital goods from 5 per cent to 3 per cent, a move aimed at buoying the industry whose growth has slow down. Also all exports under the scheme will be eligible for incentives under the various promotional schemes. Average export obligation under the scheme for premier trading house would be calculated based on the average of the last 5 years' export instead of the extant 3 years. Alongside, reduced average export obligation under EPCG for sectors that have seen decline in exports in the previous year is also announced.

For tapping new markets, 10 new countries have been included under the Focus Market Scheme, which fiscal sops to the exporters. These countries are Albania, Bosnia, Colombia, Croatia, Djibouti, Ghana, Honduras, Mongolia, Macedonia and Sudan. While exporters welcomed the expansion of the Focus Market Scheme, they lamented that key markets of Russia, Brazil and South Africa have been left out of the scheme. Under the Focus Product Scheme the government aimed at giving a thrust to manufacture and export of certain products. However, the withdrawal of this benefit for steel products would have a limited impact on the sector. It is expected that out of total steel exports of about 4-4.5 million tonnes, the withdrawal of the focus product scheme incentive would impact only over 10 per cent exports.CNF