Can Higher Reservations Help Tackle Inequities In Society?

A central theme of the elections this year has been the caste census and the removal of the 50 percent cap that figures prominently in the Congress manifesto.

- SUMANTH C RAMAN

Rahul Gandhi has been speaking about it at almost every campaign meeting and the BJP has not been able to effectively articulate its stand. Is a caste census necessary and should the cap on reservations be lifted? The 2011 census says 16.6 percent of India's population are SCs and 8.6 percent STs. The data on OBCs is sketchy, with the government admitting to "errors" in data collection in the 2011 census. The Mandal Commission gave the percentage of OBCS at 52 percent, which declined to 41 percent in a 2006 NSSO survey. This is also contentious as between the 1980s and 2006, an additional 1,500 or so castes were added to the OBC list and such a significant decline was not believed to be feasible.

It is essential to know the caste-wise population to know if the benefits of reservation are reaching beneficiaries in an equitable manner. The reluctance to release data is not specific to the BJP. The Congress, too, carried out a survey in Karnataka in 2015 and did not release the data until February this year, after Rahul Gandhi started hinting at a caste census.

Any talk of higher quotas invariably involves the Tamil Nadu model, the only state to have 69 percent reservation.

Though around 93 percent of Tamil Nadu comes under the reserved categories, the fact that it ranks consistently among the top states in most socio-economic, health and education indices is often touted as proof that more reservation could be the answer to persisting inequities.