THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY

T H E R E are two main questions to be considered. First, by what

criteria w i l l Government determine, when the time comes, that special treatment is no longer necessary? Second, how w i l l the caste conces-sions he done awav w i t h ?

The wri ter 's efforts to obtain answers to the first question have borne meagre f ru i t . Some of the H a r i j a n poli t icians have a ready reply — 'when our quota of Gov­ernment jobs is f i l led ' — but Gov­ernment leaders have said l i t t le . Evidence of publ ic t h ink ing on the subject comes more f r o m implica­tions and asides than f rom direct statements. I t wou ld appear first , that for Hari jans special treatment rn all fields is assumed to be tied up w i t h reserved seats in poli t ics , and second, the pol i t ica l safeguards and the removal of untouchabi l i ty are considered co-terminus. There is also a reference to cont inu ing special treatment un t i l the Har i jans ' l i v i n g standards are levelled up to those of the rest of the popula t ion . The main connection however, is bet­ween untouchabi l i ty and reserved seats.

Untouchability and Special Treatment

In 1959. the pr inc ipa l argument of those who favoured extending the l im i t by another ten years was that untouchabi l i ty was sti l l prevalent. It was imp l i ed , somewhat vaguely that

special treatment w i l l go when un­touchabi l i ty does. There was abo an impl ied fai th that untouchabil i ty will be gone when the question comes up again ten years f rom now.

W i l l i t? Does Government think it can eliminate untouchabil i ty f rom al l but a few pockets of the country in only ten more years? It is doubt­ful that anylllone fami l i a r w i th the situation really experts it to. To say this is not to disparage what has already been done. Untouchabil i ty has diminished remarkably dur ing only two or three generations, arid one should never underestimate this achievement. The point here is that untouchabil i ty is so ramified and deeply rooted that even if greater effort is made and the pace is increased it w i l l still be wide­spread in one fo rm or another, well after 1970.

Erroneous Connection

What is the answer? To go on amending the Consti tution every ten years unti l the "vested interest in the survival of untouchahil i ty" be­comes permanent? Or to throw out all the concessions a rb i t ra r i ly in 1970 without considering whether the Har i jans st i l l need help and protec­t ion? Perhaps the most promissing way to avoid both Seylla and Chary-bdis is to begin by separating un­touchabi l i ty and special treatment.

The connection between the two

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is largely erroneous. It is true that the Scheduled Cartes were listed on the basis of their untouchabi l i ty . Al though the cri teria of untouchabi­l i tv were flexibly applied and were unworkable- in some cases, the castes which ended up on the list were, in fact, the Untouchables of their par-t ieular localities. But they were not listed because of their untouchabi­l i t y . They were listed because, as a group, they were the most poor-the most i l l i terate, the most depen­dent and heIpless and did not wi th­out safeguards, have a chance of obtaining a share in the por t ion oi Brit ish power that was to be trans­ferred to the Indians. Whatever motives one may impute to the B r i ­tish at that time, it was because this minor i ty was underprivi leged that it was listed for special treat­ment and it was p r imar i ly for this reason that the lists and concession* were retained after Independence.

For example, in the State of Travancore. where the S C were listed on the basis of untouchabi l i ty just as they were in Br i t i sh India, the 1931 Census Superintendent decided that the most workable cri­terion was the distance to which caste;, could approach the inner sanctuary of a temple. The castes which could not even enter the outer compound walls were Sche­duled, But this was not done so that the Maharajah could issue his

November 18, 1961

The Backward Classes — III

Future of Special Treatment Lelah Dushkin

The caste concessions granted to the Harijans are all temporary. No one has opposed tins as a state­ment of principle. The most common characterisation of special treatment for the Scheduled Castes is that it is a "'crutch which, if continued to be used too long, will only weaken its users. Special treatment us also commonly called a 'necessary evil'. Although there are all sorts of subtle variations of emphasis on the words 'necessary and "evil' the consensus that it is temporary in principle is universal.

Temporary concessions, like temporary taxes, have a way of becoming permanent unless something is done to ensure that they remain temporary. This is the weakest, part of the present system of caste bene­fits, for little has been done in this direction. The only provision of this kind is the time limit on reserved seats, which has been extended by another ten years and can be extended again.

The logic of the special treatment policy requires that the greatest amount be given at the beginning and that if then paper off as the need for it becomes less, acute. In practice, the reverse has happened. Like a mighty banyan, it has grown steadily, especially since Independence, and has sent down roots into most fields of Government activity.

Special treatment has been in effect on a significant scale for nearly thirty years now. With a new Five Year Plan just begun, new elections a few months away. and a ten-year grace period for reserved seats, this seems the opportune time for Government and the public to devote serious thought to the problem of ensuring that special treatment will be temporary in fact as well us in principle

November 18, 1961 T H E E C O N O M I C W E E K L Y

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famous edict a few years later open­i n g some 1,600 temples to al l H indus, i nc lud ing Har i jans . He could have issued i t w i thout having his subordinates go to the trouble of d raw ing up a l ist. The "list was used fo r educational and some eco­nomic concessions and fo r nomina­tions to the legislative counci l . Apparen t l y the castes included would have been the same had the cr i ter ion been the lowest l i teracy rate or the greatest poverty.

If caste concessions were not adopted p r i m a r i l y for the removal of untouchabi l i ty and need not last un t i l that goal has been achieved, what other standards m igh t be used fo r determining how long i t w i l l remain? The most logical would be those direct ly related to the edu­cational and Other welfare program-nies, such as l i teracy rates, income and occupational d is t r ibu t ion , for wh ich the 1961 Census w i l l supply much valuable data. A standard combining such cr i ter ia appears to be under official consideration at the present t ime, though no details are avai lable.

Manner of Abolition The prob lem of how such a stand­

ard would be appl ied leads to the larger question of how the caste concessions w i l l be done away w i t h . There are two main alternatives. One is gradual ly to reduce the list of castes eligible fo r concessions. The other is to adjust the concessions themselves.

Reduction of Schedule

The first has been suggested by Commissioner Shr ikant provided that it be accompanied by adequate sample surveys, etc and be conducted according to 'scientif ic and u n i f o r m ' cr i ter ia . The 1961 Census paper on the S C & T (the last to be publish­ed) w i l l give the H a r i j a n statistics caste by caste. The reasons for this decision are not known, but pre­sumably these data w i l l be used in revising the lists according to the Reorganised States and perhaps also in removing the castes deemed sufficiently advanced. Some revision of the present l ists is necessary because of discrepancies caused by die re-drawing of State boundaries.

One wonders, .however, how much reliance should be placed on the manipulat ion of l ists as a means of e l iminat ing caste concessions. Quite

apar t f r o m the pol i t ica l pressures such a procedure wou ld generate and the prob lem of securing ade< quate data to supplement the Cen­sus, one can foresee numerous prac-t ical difficulties of def in i t ion and interpretat ion, both of the cr i ter ia to be appl ied and of "cas te" i tself.

Moreover, the correlat ion on which the or ig ina l l is t ing of the S C depended is weakening. The range of var ia t ion is increasing among the H a r i j a n castes and among the ind i ­viduals and famil ies of a single caste as some people advance more rap id ly than others. The di f ferent rank ing systems (socio-religious, economic, educational, etc) no longer coincide as closely as they once d i d , fo r it is possible to rise more rap id ly on some than on others. As a l l these differentials increase, the practical difficulties of using caste as the un i t fo r g rant ing or w i thdrawing concessions w i l l also increase.

One of the basic paradoxes of the special treatment po l icy is that i t is designed to break down the corre­la t ion on which i t is based, and that it becomes unfa i r precisely as it be­comes successful. A long w i t h other social and economic changes, it has had no small measure of success. No doubt the Har i jans as a whole are more underpr iv i leged than any other group of comparable size. But there are more and more H a r i j a n famil ies who are better off than some non-Hari jans, and more and more object ion 19 being voiced to the pol icy of g iv ing them special help when there are others who need it more and cannot Ret it because they were not born into the r igh t castes.

Change of Basis Of the two alternatives mentioned

earlier, therefore, it might be best to place the main emphasis on the con­ceptions instead of the lists. In most f ields, this would not mean abolish­ing them but grant ing them on some basis other than caste. This would not prevent the lists f r om being re­duced wherever feasible but nei­ther would i t require Government to find cr i ter ia f o r tak ing all castes off the lists or fo r determin ing just when the t ime has come for it to do away w i t h the whole structure of special treatment. Nei ther problem would be crucial i f the basis f o r the award of special help were shifted

f r o m caste b i r th to ind iv idua l or fam i l y income, occupation and other categories of need.

Th is is not a new idea, but to date i t has been voiced ma in ly in relat ion to the Other Backward Classes, that catch-all category for which the Centre has not yet adopt­ed a def in i t ion or a l ist. The Back­ward Classes Commission was appo­inted in 1953 to draw up the crite­r ia and lists and recommend steps to be taken fo r the 0 B C. Its report, released in 1956, is wor thy of men­t ion because of its a f termath.

W i thou t an up-to-date Census caste invest igat ion, the only nation­ally un i f o rm cr i ter ia i t could come up w i t h inc luded so many people (ha l f the populat ion) that, as Pandi t Pant told Par l iament, "no useful purpose" was served by them. Throughout its investigations, more­over, the Commission was treated to an unseemly display of caste r i va l r y fo r inclusion in the l ist, w i th each group c la iming to be more "backward* ' than the next and each religious communi ty c la iming that casteism was rampant w i t h i n i t . This, together w i th the Commission's fa i lure to produce workable cr i ter ia and the controversial nature of some of its recommendations, en­couraged the change in publ ic op in ion on caste concessions.

The Commission's Chairman. Kaka Kale lkar reveals in his introductory letter to the report that the compe­t i t i on in backwardness gave h i m a " r ude shock" wh ich ,

" . . . drove me to the conclusion that the remedies we suggested were worse than the evil we were out to combat.

This painful realisation came to mo almost toward the end of our labours. . . . It is only when the Re­port was being finalised that I started thinking anew and found that backwardness could be tackled on a basis or a number of bases other than that of caste.... Once we eschew the principle of caste, it wil l be possible to help the extremely poor and deserving from all com­munities."

Smt Hansa Mehta expressed the new v iewpoint apt ly in January 1957 when she said,

"The premium placed on caste handicaps is leading not only to un­warranted group jealousies but also

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November 18, 1961 T H E E C O N O M I C W E E K L Y

indierctly to perpetuation of the caste system. We have to consider whether it would not be wiser to give aid on the oasis of a particular category of nerd rather than on the basis of a particular caste or tribe. This will eliminate those people who nominally belong to backward classes but virtu­ally have attained a social and eco-nomir status that would not entitle them to additional safeguards and privileges."

The reaction to the B C C report has not brought an end to demands for the expansion of special treat­ment in k i n d , amount or number of castes e l ig ible . But it may be that in Mysore's claim for more money on grounds that 90 per cent of its populat ion belongs to Backward Classes in the demands of O B C organisations for huge concessions in education, reservation of 10 to 60 per cent of Government jobs (even for a 15-year monopoly of them) , and so on, we are witnessing the extreme phases of u habit of publ ic t h ink ing that is on the way out.

Caste Lints Not Drawn Up

The Centre is moving in another d i rec t ion . It has either rejected or ignored the major B C C recom­mendations. It now shows no inten­t ion of d rawing up its own caste list of O B C. It d i d not enumer­a t e the O B C in the 1961 Census and has asked the States to delete the O B C caste column f rom Gov­ernment records. I t has wa rmly applauded the new income-based educational policy of Maharashtra and Gujarat and has made clear its wish that the other States also adopt economic cr i ter ia of "backward-'ness".

It should be clear that the p r i n ­ciples stated by K a k a Kalelkar , Smt Mehta and many others apply equally well to the Scheduled Castes. It would be fa i rer to al l concerned if special assistance were granted on the basis of income and the specific needs each f o r m of it is designed to meet.

But , one might say, for the Centre to refuse to adopt lists or special t reatment for the O B C is one t h i n g ; for i t to do away w i t h lists or concessions it has already adopted for the Har i j ans and which have already bui l t a certain vested inte­rest in the i r perpetuation, is another.

There are two main pract ical con­siderations against such a change: the arguments of adminis t ra t ive and pol i t i ca l realism.

Administrative and Political Objections

In a sense, special treatment is no more than a great administrat ive short-cut for ensuring that the least pr ivi leged sections of the populat ion get the opportuni t ies deemed r ight­ful ly theirs. For the administrators, it is less difficult to award benefits only to members of certain castes than to award them o n l y to persons who have less than a certain in­come. This would be true even if deceit were the exception and not the rule in stating incomes before officials. Moreover, concessions w i t h caste safeguards are relat ively less subject to usurpation by those who are not intended to be the main beneficiaries. Thus concessions grant­ed on the basis, of economic or other categories of need, without caste l imi ts , w i l l be more difficult to ad­minister and perhaps more suscep­t ible to unfai r influence and diver­sion into other hands.

None of these obstacles is insur­mountable, however. The Govern­ment of Ind ia has applied income l imi t s to its O B C post-matric scholarships for years wi thout airy serious complaints of maladministra­t ion on this score. Maharashtra and Gujarat have taken on a tremendous adminis t ra t ive task in awarding their expanded O B C concessions- on a purely income basis, yet the sys­tem is w o r k i n g as well as caste con­cessions are elsewhere in spite of the upheavals caused by the b i furcat ion of the b i l ingual Bombay State.

In effect, the adminis t ra t ive argu­ment is not so much against making the shift to need concessions as against mak ing it hasti ly or abrupt­l y . I t w i l l take time to work out the procedures for implement ing the new system. A n d the changeover f rom the o l d to the new w i l l pro­bably be fairest to all concerned if it is done gradual ly as part of a phased programme.

Question of Timing

The Har i jans are not po l i t i c a l l y as strong as their numbers would indicate. But they comprise, a sec­t ion of voters so large that no par ty can ignore them, and their represen­tatives in New Delh i have acted w i t h

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growing un i ty of late. Can Govern­ment put through a major change in their status (i e, cease to recog­nise; them as a m i n o r i t y ) against their wishes? The p reva i l ing view is that the major i ty must not make the decisions without some measure of consent f rom the m i n o r i t y . But can one expect the Ha r i j an leaders themselves to demand the abol i t ion of special treatment? This is too much to ask of them.

Here again, however, the situa­tion is not hopeless. A l l the H a r i ­j a n leaders have at least pa id l i p service to the desirabi l i ty of abo­l i sh ing special treatment eventually. Some may push its present continu­ance for their own selfish purposes, but many seem to be c l i ng ing to it f rom the fear that without it they w i l l Jose everything. I f the educa­tional and economic concessions were given on the basis of income and need, few Har i jans wou ld actu­ally lose them. The H a r i j a n leaders recognise this, but they tend to be h igh ly suspicious of the motives of those who call for an end to caste concessions. They apparently feel that wi thout caste safeguards, not enough non-Har i jan officials could be counted on to administer the concessions in good fa i th . Non-Har i jans , for their part , sometimes exaggerate the effects of special treatment and condemn it impatient­ly wi thout adequate appreciat ion of the real difficulties under which the Har i jans labour. In sum, then, the pol i t ica l problem boils down to questions of t i m i n g and of establish­ing some degree of mutual confi­dence where mutual suspicion now exists.

Initiation and Timing

Government is faced w i t h the difficult task of finding a midd le way between wa i t ing too long before abol ishing special treatment and ending i t too abrupt ly . The p o l i t i ­cal considerations, l ike the admi­nis t ra t ive, argue for a gradual ap­proach. A n d in coping wi th the ad­minis t ra t ive problems, i t w i l l be ne­cessary to demonstrate, step by step, that the new system can operate wi thout i n j u r y to the Har i j ans ' le­gi t imate interests. W i t h adequate consultation, their cooperation can be secured in work ing out a satis­factory t ransi t ion.

The in i t i a t ive should p robab ly come f r o m the top leadership of

THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY November 18, 1961

Government. Wha t is needed now is a publ ic commitment that Govern­ment w i l l move toward abol i t ion of special treatment du r ing the present decade. A statement of this po l icy by the P r ime Minis te r , the Home Min i s t e r and the Rai lway Minis ter wou ld do much to create a favour­able cl imate of op in ion . If the efforts to work out the most approp­riate t ransi t ional arrangements could begin soon after the elections, the fu l l grace period could be ut i l ised. D u r i n g the decade it should then be possible to complete the changc-over in most fields and to work out the order and t i m i n g of the steps which remain in the others.

The changes would presumably vary according to the type of con­cession and the field in which it is granted. I t w i l l be simpler in some cases than in others to make the t rans i t ion f rom caste to need con­cessions. In s t i l l others, need con­cessions are not appropria te , and different ways to abolish special treatment w i l l have to be found. A general indica t ion of some of these problems and possibilities is given below.

A b o l i t i o n i n E a c h F i e l d Removal of Disabilities

L i t t l e in the way of t ransi t ional steps seems necessary for the schemes to combat untouchabi l i ty d i rec t ly because most of them do not involve the award of caste con­cessions. Indeed, one wonders how much of this effort would really be affected if the list of Scheduled Castes were abolished tomorrow. Only the Untouchabi l i ty Offences Act. curiously enough, for it can­not operate wi thou t a list.

The work of changing social at t i ­tudes and customs by non-violent demonstrat ion and persuasion went on for decades before the A c t was passed and had real accomplish­ments to its credit wi thout Govern­ment a id . Government grants to voluntarv agencies w i t h long ex­perience in the field can continue without a list . The announced pol i ­cies of integrat ing wells housing and hostels might encounter some difficulties but could s t i l l be imple­mented if there were a genuine de­sire to do so. The same is t rue of the new official schemes for chang­ing attitudes toward the d i r t y occu­pations, wh ich are very small and experimental in any case. F ina l ly ,

the improvement of the l i v i n g and work ing conditions of sweepers and scavengers is not generally done on a special treatment basis even now, and there is no reason why it should he in the future.

In effect, then, just as the abol i ­t ion of special treatment need not wait un t i l untouchabi l i ty is eradi­cated, so the schemes for the direct removal of disabi l i t ies can continue as long as is necessary after special treatment is gone. Important; as they may be, however, it is difficult to see how they can be successful except as supplements to more fundamental changes. The evidence would all indicate that the major means for the removal of untoucha­b i l i t v are ind i rec t : p r i m a r i l y chan­ges in economic status and l iv ing conditions, and education.

Economic Welfare

The major problems off the H a r i -jans are shared, in greater or lesser degree w i t h most other inhabitants of the country and can be adequately dealt w i t h only in a much broader context than that, of S C welfare. State laws for protect ion against exploi ta t ion — especially those per­t a in ing to land tenure and indeb­tedness— rarely contain special provisions for Hari jans . Caste con­cessions are somewhat more com­mon for specific forms of assistance which may follow up the laws and for the development of cottage in ­dustries. Many of these schemes tune had only indifferent success, however, and there seems to be no correla t ion between their effective­ness and whether or not they are special treatment measures.

Where the welfare schemes cope wi th the needs of certain S C groups, such as munic ipal sweepers or vil lage tanners, it does not par t i -culur lv matter whether they are on a caste basis or not because the recipients would be the same in either case. Most of the S C schemes, however, supplement those operat ing for the general publ ic and are usu­ally more generous. Where the S C schemes involve a greater contr ibu­t ion f r o m the State, on the ground that the Har i jans cannot afford the contr ibut ions required of beneficia­ries under the general schemes, it would seem only fair to put them on an income basis.

The Study Team on Social Welfare and Welfare of Rack-ward Classes (1959) recommend -

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ed that, while re ta ining the Schedules of Castes and Tribes , economic cr i ter ia be applied1 w i t h i n the groups in adminis ter ing a l l forms of assistance. In the case of housing, for example, ra t ional isat ion according to income level would mean out r ight grants to those below a certain m i n i m u m and loans on easy terms to those between it and upper l i m i t ; those above the maxi ­m u m would be e l ig ib le only for the general housing schemes. This would provide a feasible intermediate step. Af te r procedures are worked out and enough money becomes avai l ­able, the next step wi l l be to app ly the same gradat ion of benefits to everyone irrespective of caste

Education

In education, caste concessions of both main types are awarded on a significant scale. The grants in money or k ind are made at all stages of education, the reservations being mainly for admission to higher tech­nical and professional ins t i tu t ions .

The pr inc ip le that scholarships and other grants should be made only on the basis of income-cum-merit has received growing support , and a number of States have said they intend to move toward its adopt ion. Steps taken to dare have applied mainly to die O B C how­ever. The Hari jans generally conti­nue to receive their grants on a caste basis. The logical step here, as wi th economic concessions, would be to apply income l imi ts to them, too, as a transit ion to the day when a l l grants for education above the level at which it is free for every­one can be awarded solely by merit and income.

The reservations and other con­cessions in respect of admissions are more difficult to cope w i t h . Here it may not be appropr ia te to apply income l imi t s to the castes which enjoy them but instead to apply t ime l imi t s to the reservations them selves, as more BC candidates quali­fy . This question probably cannot be answered at present. The task now facing the authorities is to operate the system of caste conces­sions on more rational lines. Two essential steps have been suggested. First , the determination of standard m i n i m u m qual i f ica t ions which wouId app ly to everyone. Second, the applicat ion, above this m in imum, of the procedure recommended by the

November 18, 1961 T H E E C O N O M I C W E E K L Y

T H E E C O N O M I C W E E K L Y November 18, 1961

Mysore H i g h Cour t to select those actual ly admit ted on a mer i t basis as far as possible. Once this system is in operat ion (where i t is not al­ready) , the p rob lem of gradual ly abolishing it can be tackled. This might be done by some combinat ion of setting income or t ime l imi t s , re­duc ing the caste lists and reserved percentages, and rais ing the m i n i ­m u m qualif icat ions. The determina­t i on of the details and their app l i ­cation w i l l not be easy i n view of the po l i t i ca l pressures involved.

Government Jobs

In pol i t ics and government jobs, the concessions are almost en t i re ly of the reservation type and w i l l be far more difficult to deal w i t h than those i n v o l v i n g expenditures. In pre-matric education the shift f rom caste-to income-based concessions is a step toward free and compulsory education for a l l ch i ld ren ; and fo r some welfare services it is a step toward a national system of social security in a socialistic society. But these considerations do not app ly to po l i t i ca l seats or government jobs. In neither field is there the expecta­t ion that the seats or posts can eventually be held by everybody or awarded on ground of need. In these fields, merit—as determined by the electorate or by the examina­tions and selection boards — must ul t imately p reva i l . The problem is to find some means of doing away w i t h present d i scr imina t ion , both for and against the B C, so that it can preva i l .

Government jobs are the more difficult of the two, if only because there is no t ime l i m i t on these con­cessions, and their extension does not require a Const i tut ional amend­ment. In theory, special treatment in this field is a means of g i v i n g a fa i r chance to ind iv idua l s who have the intelligence and apt i tude for the jobs but cannot do qui te as well as their competitors at exami­nations and interviews because they have not had comparable advaru tages. It has become common, how­ever, to regard the concessions aa a means of securing adequate repre­sentation of the castes in the ser­vices, wh ich gives special treatment an altogether different emphasis. Thus, the recerved percentages are "quotas" which are to be fi l led in each Class of Government service

Th is quota concept has a certain r i n g of permanence about i t , bu t i t does not necessarily conflict w i t h the temporary nature of special treatment. Presumably, one would s imply wait un t i l the quota fo r a par t icular class was filled and then go about reducing the percentage of reservation by a specified amount every couple of years, much as was done w i t h Anglo-Indians in the Railways. Har i jans have already f i l led their quota in Class IV posts and w i l l probably do so at the Class I I I level in a few years. But i f the above procedure is to be adopted for the quotas in Class II and I posts "consistent w i t h the mainte­nance of efficiency of adminis t ra­t i o n " (an required by the Constitu­t i o n ) , then one must acknowledge that special treatment cannot pos-sibly be abolished in ten years' t ime, perhaps not even in twenty. May be this w i l l happen; in any ease, it is not something a foreign­er should pass judgment on.

There is another way of looking at the problem which may prove wor thv of consideration. This starts w i t h the ind iv idua l emphasis wh ich has always- been the theoretical policy of Government. Here, aboli­t ion of special treatment mean9 seeing to it that Har i jans w i l l get posts entirely on their own meri t . If applies not only to the progress of the Har i jans over a per iod of t ime but also to the advancement of the ind iv idua l appointee d u r i n g his career.

Reserved Promotions U n t i l reserved promotions were

upheld by the Supreme Court , re­servation generally operated only at the recruitment stage; after that a man was on his own. Al though one cannot tell what the impact of the decision w i l l be, the newspapers have been unanimous in their dis­approval . Thei r p r imary concern is the potential damage to adminis­trat ive morale and efficiency. It is also noted that statements to the effect that continuance of the " c r u t c h " past the recrui tment stage in necessary look l ike an admission of defeat for the exist ing reserva­tions. Numerous reservations have been expressed about the advisa­b i l i t y of p r o v i d i n g an oppor tun i ty for another vested interest in caste concessions to get established at a t ime when they are to be modif ied or w i thd rawn elsewhere.

The way out of this d i lemma, one suspects, is to concentrate on mak ing the Har i jans able to com­pete on a mer i t basis instead of lower ing meri t standards for them on a caste basis. For candidates who are he ld up at the post to which they were or ig ina l ly appointed be­cause they have not attained the standard of efficiency required for p romot ion , Commissioner Shr ikant has recommended that Refresher Courses be started exclusively for them in the Department i tself . I f special treatment has to be adopted for promot ional posts, this seems the most beneficial, as wel l as the fairest fo rm for it to take. As The Hindu commented on May 6, 1961,

"Wider opportunities for education and facilities for intensive training for members of the backward classes with­in the various services, so that they can qualify for higher posth and get them as of right by merit, should be surer means of getting them their due than pitchforking them into jobs for which they do not have the equipment."'

This approach need not conflict w i t h the quota system, but could supplement it and speed up its abol i t ion . A n d , of course, i t would have obvious psychological advan­tages for the Har i jans and their non-Har i jan colleagues.

Political Representation As noted earlier, special treat­

ment in other fields is considered to be dependent on reserved seats, though there is no legal provis ion to this effect. The p r inc ip le that reserved seats are temporary has always been exp l ic i t ly endorsed by al l sides, but the exact t ime l i m i t has been subject to change.

When the Br i t i sh first announced their plan for statutory reservation in the Communal A w a r d , they pro­vided that reservation could come to an end in ten years and must do so in twenty. In Poona dur ing Gandhi j i ' s epic fast, the negoliators agreed that the question of a time l i m i t should be settled by a refer­endum at a future date. They could not agree, however, on when and how the referendum should be held. It is perhaps significant that Shri Rajagopalachari 's compromise, which broke the deadlock and enabled Gandh i j i to give up his fast, was to shelve the issue.

A ten-year l i m i t was fixed in the Const i tu t ion but "this is perhaps

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the only occasion when an amend­ment was anticipated and provided for when the o r ig ina l Ar t i c l e was pasred by the Constituent Assemb­l y . " (The Economic Weekly, Decem­ber 12, 1959; p 1657) , It came as no surprise that in December 1959 Par l iament passed the Eighth Amendment Act extending reserva­t ion by another ten years. The sur­prise lay in the bizarre performance enacted in the Lok Sabha and the ex t raord inary indifference of Cong­ressmen to their three-line par ty w h i p . Whether this came f r o m re­sistance or f rom apathy is hard to say. Many regrets were expressed on the f loor of the Mouse before the Bill was passed.

If passage of the amendment was difficult in 1959 because so many Congressmen d i d not show up to vote, any such B i l l introduced in 1969 w i l l meet w i t h more difficulty. Resistance to the idea has develop­ed a firmness of late that was not much in evidence in 1959. When Pandit Nehru told the Convention of SC & T Legislator's last Febru­ary, "I hope a l l of you w i l l bear in mind that there should he no fur ther extension", he expressed a feelinrr that ha* been frequently ex-p r e y e d in the Press.

Abol i t ion of Double-Member Constituencies

Reservation of seats is supposed to protect the underpr ivi leged S C & T un t i l such t ime as they can hold their own in the elections of a more integrated society. If reserva­t ion is to be abolished in 1970, it should be done in a way that w i l l assuage H a r i j a n fears that loss of reserved seats w i l l lead to loss of everything else they are s t ruggl ing for, Perhaps the most appropr ia te way w o u l d be to substitute conven­t ion for statute. Th i s w o u l d involve an agreement by the pol i t ica l parties to put up Har i jans for al l the ex-reserved seats d u r i n g the first post-exp i ry elections. This is easier said than done, but w i t h adequate prepa­rat ion i t might be possible. In this context, the recent history of the B i l l to abolish double-member constitu­encies may be discussed in some detai l .

A l t h o u g h a pr ivate B i l l was in t ro­duced late in 1959. the official B i l l was not passed un t i l the end of February 1961 . D u r i n g the inter­

vening months, o p i n i o n in the meet­ings of the Congress Legislature par ty was sharply d iv ided , w i t h Hari jan? on both sides, and the H i g h Command evidently changed its m i n d more than once. On De­cember 8, 1960, when the Pa r ty voted on the B i l l , only 229 of the 555 Congress M P s turned up to ca . l their votes: 124 for, 95 against, and 10 i n v a l i d . The H i g h Com­mand thereupon decided to shelve the B i l l , then reversed itself, and on December 23. the Law Min i s t e r introduced it for consideration at the next session.

Of the various arguments, those which prevailed among the legis­lators were apparently those of ad­minis t ra t ive and po l i t i ca l expedien­cy. Adminis t ra t ive ly , i t was said, the double-member system is " i n ­convenient, and cumbersome". W i t h approximately twice as many candi­dates canvassing an electorate twice the normal size, it entails heavy ex­penditure and creates ' 'confusion among the voters and misunder­standing among candidates of the, same pol i t ica l part ies." Therefore, the MPs, ' 'prefer smaller corst i tuen. cies which involve less expenditure and trouble."

Polit ical Reasoning

This preoccupation w i t h the practical aspects of the system which affect the legislators person­a l ly is also characteristic of the pol i t ica l reasoning. In operation, the system places a double burden on the general candidate, who doe ' most of the campaigning, vet may lose his. seat in the end through S C-bloc double vot ing. The S C candidate is usually l i t t l e known, his election is regarded as the con­cern only of the Hari jans . and he usually rides in on the other man's coat-tails. Once elected, the man in the unreserved seat is regarded as the Representative of the constituen­cy, his Har i j an colleague as a sort of Assistant MP in charge of Har i ­j a n Affairs . The general seat in­cumbents, therefore want to be r i d of the extra burdens and risks, the Har i jans of their " i n f e r i o r " status of dependence, real or alleged, on their non-Har i jan counterparts. For the S C & T Legislators who would l ike to bu i ld a more effective back­ward class bloc in Parl iament , such independence would appear to be

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essential. This may have been what the leading H a r i j a n exponent of the B i l l , Shr i Jagj ivan Ram, had in mind when he argued that the Hari jans should "stand on their own legs". It is perhaps noteworthy that the first a l l - Ind ia Convention of S C & T Legislators, o f which h e was the pr ime mover, met at Hyde­rabad early in February 1961.

Be that as it may. what publ ic preparat ion or pressure was there for the B i l l ? Surpr is ingly l i t t le , considering that it would direct ly affect all voters in a year's t ime. When Pandit Pant was questioned last September about b r ing ing up an official B i l l , he is reported to have "a t t r ibu ted the delay to his anxiety to avoid unnecessary con­troversy in the House on the sub­ject. We had learnt f rom some friends,' he said, 'that there was some difference of op in ion on this matter . ' He, therefore, felt i t would be better to straighten out things before in t roducing the Bill. (Times of India. September 7, 1960,) This seem, characteristic of the affair. Reportedly, the opposit ion parties and the State legislatnes were not conculded. More impor tan t , through­out the months of straightening-out inside Congress, the publ ic either knew nothing about it or was un­usually mis informed and vague on the subject.

There are exceptions, of course, but most people do not seem to have realised un t i l very late that the B i l l would not end reservations, and that in a l l the new reserved constituencies the Har i janns would be a definite mino r i t y of the electo­rate. This in spite of a statement by the Elect ion Commission that " i n most cases" the Har i jans in re-served single-member constituencies "would fo rm less than 10 per cent of the total population." Once this was clear, press opposi t ion to the B i l l , and to reservation itself, stif­fened considerably, but that was after Congress had decided to vote the B i l l .

Disquieting Reaction As the facts become known and

the constituencies are bifurcated, the reported reaction of I he general public , though natural enough, is d isquiet ing. The non-Harijans in the new S C constituencies resent the new system on the ground that they, the major i ty , w i l l be pract i ­cally disenfranchised by being pre-

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November 18, 1961 T H E E C O N O M I C W E E K L Y

vented f r o m setting up or vo t ing f o r a candidate of thei r own . Now, they say, they w i l l be forced to accept a representative of the back­w a r d m i n o r i t y as thei r MP. The crucia l question is not whether these assertions are just , but how widely they w i l l be accepted and act­ed on. It is now feared that the new system w i l l produce widespread i n ­difference to the elections on one side, an eventual demand fo r sepa­rate electorates on the other, and spoil whatever chance reserved seats may have 'for in tegra t ing the body po l i t i c . I t may do that.

But it need not. There is some hope. Whatever its defects, the sys­tem w i l l at least require po l i t i ca l ly interested Har i jana and non-Har i -jans of the same par ty to work more closely w i t h each other than they have heretofore. The H a r i j a n can­didate* w i l l be anxious, i f only in the i r own self interest, to prove to the non-Hanjan voters that they can represent the whole constituency w e l l . I f the non-Hari jans are w i l l ­i n g to take this in good fa i th and give i t a t ry and. in course of t ime, find that a H a r i j a n MP is not so bad after alb then the Har i j ans can gain the confidence really to "stand on their own legs" wi thout reserva­t i o n s I f this can happen d u r i n g the next ten years, then s inge-member constituencies may prove a M e r i n o : in disguise and make the t ransi t ion f rom statutory to con­ventional representation a smoother one. These are b i g " i f s " .

Conclus ion

The two trends of special treat. ment — toward abol i t ion and to­ward expansion or consolidation — seem to be co inc id ing more and more w i t h the two main types of concessions. For all concessions wh ich involve expenditure by Gov-ernment, the po l icy ga in ing momen­t u m is to shift to economic rather than caste cr i ter ia , either direct ly or by way of first a p p l y i n g econo­mic l imi t s w i t h i n the caste groups. The shift to need concessions is neither so obvious nor so app rop r i -ate a way out for reservations and their related concessions. Here, the reduction of caste lists may be use­f u l but the f u l l solution i s more difficult to find and the pol i t ica l pressures are the greatest. Here too, three developments d u r i n g 1961 —

Mysore 's expansion of OBC reser­vations for admission to technical ins t i tu t ions , albeit in more refined f o r m , the establishment of single, member reserved constituencies w i thou t adequate publ ic prepara­t ion , and the Supreme Court 's en­

dorsement of reservation fo r p r o ­motions in Government service — may not augur we l l fo r the abol i ­t ion of special treatment in ten years' t ime.

(Concluded)

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