Caste Cences

It’s time to cast the ‘Caste’ away

Caste Census

The stated purpose for including caste in census is to frame and implement policies targeting disadvantaged – marginalised – groups, to fast track their development. It will however take the form of reservations in professional courses and governmental jobs. The reservations will hopefully be proportional and include all categories of people. The British devised the reservation policy as a tool to divide and rule India and ensured its continuation after they left also, by instigating the disadvantaged classes/castes to demand its continuation.

Ideally every vacancy in educational institutions, offices and factories should be filled by the most deserving – read meritorious/suitable – person only. However the age old disparity among various sections required some correction. The reservation policy offered one way to correct it quickly but not properly. The disadvantaged sections should have been given exemption/ concession in payment of fees, given scholarships, free/ subsidised hostel facilities and food, free coaching for competitive exams, separate schools only at primary level to give special attention to them and may be special extra coaching classes at higher levels enabling them to become competitive. Instead, relaxing standards for admission, recruitment and promotions resulted in many undeserving/ unfit getting in to positions of responsibility and virtually watering down standards of services at all levels in every department – medical, technical, police, administrative, academic, judiciary, even art and entertainment and not to mention politics – sometimes resulting in grave danger to men and materials.

Though the founding fathers of Independent India were initially reluctant to accept reservation policy envisaging the damage it will do to the social fabric, they were almost arm twisted to agree to continue the policy to hasten the transfer of power from the British. The reservation policy of Independent India was initially meant as a ‘handicap lead’ and was to be phased out in 10 years by which time the disparities were expected to be corrected by leap frog one generation of marginalised. This explains why caste was not included in the census in Independent India. The political vested interests however ensured its perpetuation beyond the original proposal of ten years and this has resulted in almost reversing the disparity – some among the erstwhile marginalised gaining unduly and among the erstwhile dominant becoming virtually marginalised. The politicians have made it look impossible to ever erase this scourge of reservation. The un-stated purpose of the caste census now is for the politicians to perpetuate their vote bank politics unbridled.

Even the logistics of implementing a reservation policy to cover each and every caste when the number of vacancies in most cases would be far fewer than the number of castes them selves and not to speak of the weighted total based on proportion of each cast to the total population [which will be a fraction of the population itself – running to millions] will be a daunting task. The British solution of rotation will be unconstitutional as many candidates from smaller groups will have to forgo their chances waiting for their caste’s turn for years, meanwhile getting age barred and thus the constitutional provision of equal opportunities will be violated.

A welcome development in the past 63 years is that education and rational, socialistic, liberal thinking have led to the younger generations becoming almost casteless or insensitive to caste division. Increasing inter-caste marriages and erasure of caste identity/ symbols are just the manifestations of this. However the reservation policy only has been trying to ensure the perpetuation of caste feelings. The right way forward now, as it has always been, is to scrap the reservation policy, scrap all schedules of castes etc., create a casteless, classless, egalitarian society and replace the reservation policy with scholarships and concessions as said above, but to economically weaker sections and not on caste basis. But the political hawks are bent upon keeping the society divided and they will implement the caste census and continue the rule of vote bank politics against all qualified advice and popular sentiments. However they can take at least one step forward even when they are taking 63 steps backward by this caste census. While enumerating, a provision to declare one self ‘casteless’ must be included. Many forward thinking, socialistically minded and rationalists – the Gandhians, communists/ socialists etc. foreign returned/ NRI s, off springs of mixed parentage and unknown parents, test tube babies etc. – will opt for this classification. While providing reservations, this group also must be provided its due share. Needless to say this group will have the maximum percentage – be almost full – of deserving and meritorious candidates for any situation. Ideally this group should expand to become 100% one day. This can be encouraged by giving double the weight-age to this group, leading others also to switch to this group gradually.

There can be no objection to this proposal from any quarter. It will not only be a please all solution, it will be fair to everyone too and will gradually transform the society. In these days of contemplating providing ‘none of the above’ option – a virtual rejection of all contestants – in elections, it should not be difficult to digest the ‘casteless’ option suggestion. However, the ‘caste less’ option should be the first and not the last and the enumerators should be trained to highlight this option to the people.

It is time to cast away the caste system and not to perpetuate the scourge. It is time to unite the society and not divide it further from just four or five categories to a few thousands. If at all any reservation has to be provided, it should be only on economic criteria – reserving a few seats for the economically weaker sections – BPL families – only, irrespective of caste, religion, region, language etc.