Act of populism with likely few takers

Act of populism with likely few takers

Quota seeks to retain shaky upper caste support.

The government has inaugurated the pre-election season of populism with its announcement of yet another quota of 10% of government jobs and seats in educational institutions, this time for the less well-off among the so-called upper castes and other groups who are not entitled to reservations at present. Grant of reservations for non-backward communities calls for amending the Constitution. Further, the provision will have to survive legal challenge. Both are unlikely, and definitely will not take place within the life of the present Lok Sabha. So, the move must be understood as political signalling. BJP is trying to assuage upper caste sentiments that turned sour after the government amended the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act to insulate it from the Supreme Court’s order meant to prevent the law’s misuse.

The move betrays some nervousness on BJP’s part. After all, upwardly mobile young people who lie outside the eligibility criterion of an annual income less than ₹8 lakh/ landholding less than 5 acre among the non-backward would see the move as populism at their expense. Part of the Modi mystique has been a deemed desire to break out of the patronage mould of Indian politics. Yet another layer of quota on top of the 50% that already exists is very much part of that mould that aspirational India wants broken. Yet, breaking the mould calls for creating economic dynamism of a kind that would create a flood of opportunity that would allow everyone to gain, how much depending on talent and hard work. The quota is clear admission that the economy has not demonstrated such dynamism. A quota for the non-backward also vitiates the logic of affirmative action: compensating for the social handicaps that centuries of discrimination has imposed on those on the lower rungs of the caste hierarchy.

Faster growth, broader-based quality higher education and healthcare lay the road to progress for society at large. Politics should stay committed to achieving this, instead of making wasteful, divisive forays into sectional appeasement — even in the election season.