Obc calculations
Government is doing a lot of narrow fine-tuning of the job reservations policy , but there's no coherent vision of reform in all this tweaking. On Wednesday the Union Cabinet approved a proposal to identify posts in public sector undertakings and financial institutions that will be marked in the “creamy layer” category, to exclude them from 27% OBC reservations. This is to address the criticism that caste-based reservation benefits get gobbled up by a privileged class within beneficiary communities. At the same time the Cabinet has raised the salary ceiling for availing quotas from Rs 6 lakh to Rs 8 lakh.But what undermines claims of reform is the Cabinet also approving the setting up of a commission to examine the sub-categorisation of the central list of OBCs. While the move is aimed at ensuring a “more equitable distribution” of reservations in government jobs and educational institutions, there is no disguising its vote bank motivations. It is calculated to bring political benefits to BJP by weakening the constituencies of leaders like SP's Akhilesh Yadav and RJD's Lalu Prasad. Breaking the stranglehold of traditionally dominating castes could enable BJP to shore up its popularity among socially weaker OBCs.
All of this takes place at a time when powerful castes like Marathas, Jats and Patels are also demanding reservation. As dividing and sub-dividing the same limited pie will only fuel social tension, there's an urgent need to stop using reservations to appease vote banks. Instead of permanent reservation benefits on the basis of caste, there needs to be policy shift towards economic considerations. And rather than endless parcelling of quotas, government should focus on reforming labour laws, which would actually create job opportunities to benefit all castes.
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