By Deepak Khairha

Ø  Why Gaggu Saur, the tribal man, couldn’t become IAS?

                Gaggu Saur aged 33, is a tribal person of Mahua Dhanda, Tahsil Amanganj, District Panna, Madhya Pradesh. He is among seven brothers and two sisters, and has been working as a labourer for 15 years under my friend Yogendra Bhadoriya, Panna. Gaggu is so poor that he could not even afford the expenses of the marriage of his sisters, hence all expenditures of marriage and Kanyadan of his elder sister were borne by Dr Shailendra Bhadoriya, younger brother of Yogendra Bhadoriya. This is the plight not only of Gaggu Saur but also of crores of tribal people, who are ignorant and uneducated, and those who are not aware of their rights and facilities given by the government and constitution.

                Similar is the condition of the schedule caste fellows too. The reason is that the major benefit of the reservation is availed by the forward community of other states in UPSC exams. And within state also other advanced families are extracting the benefits of reservation, leaving the conditions of people like Gaggu, unchanged.

                Now the disparity is not between Brahmins and people like Gaggu rather between Gaggu and forward strata of the reserved forward community.

Ø  Britishers’ tool of divide and rule

               Even after more than 75 years of Independence do we really need reservation, if yes, then what would be its mode so that society as a whole will progress? During the British Era before independence reservation was introduced just to divide the country based on communal line so that Indians as whole would not fight   against the Britishers’ Supremacy as a united force. It was not a temporary measure by them rather a well plan permanent strategy to divide the society on religious and caste line.

                The reservation was given to Muslims (Morley-Minto Reforms), Sikhs, Indian Christians, Anglo-Indians, Europeans (Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms), and Dalit (Poona Pact of 1932) mainly in the Central legislature and Municipal bodies but the dominance of the Britishers were not compromise in the Bureaucracy or Administration. After the independence in 1947 and formation of constitution in 1950 the reservation was introduced for Parliament, State Assembly and in government jobs at the behest of Shri Ambedkar ji, that too as a temporary measure for only 10 years. It was expected that by that time the disparity in society would patch up which was there between Dalit and upper castes.

Ø  Multiple Generations taking major chunk

                In the last 75 years we have moved from one extreme to another extreme in reservation distribution. It is a matter of serious concern that the gap which was there between the Dalit and upper caste has now come into within Dalit communities. The Dalits of my hometown, like Gaggu, are still poor and languishing under poverty and ignorance and ill-treated by upper caste and at the same time better off Dalits of other states have been in bureaucratic posts for nearly three generations.  The persons of same communities of few particular states are taking benefit of reservation even though their father, grandfather and great grandfathers were Civil Servants.

                The pathetic condition of Dalit cannot be improved till the better off Dalits give away the benefits of reservation to the more deserving poor Dalits. How can a poor Dalit compete in examinations with affluent Dalits from metropolitan cities when many of them benefit from better educational opportunities and stronger financial security because their parents are bureaucrats?

                The poor Dalit will continue to be poor and weak till the major chunk of reservation is availed by the rich Dalits.

                During my journey of Civil Services and then joining as an officer, I have seen many cases of officers those who were IES then they appeared in Civil Services and joined Railway then they became IRS, IPS then finally IAS. It means sometimes they might have taken the seats of poor Dalit. It is not the case of Dalit only but for OBC also it is equally applicable.

                Once the benefit of reservation is availed by any person for getting a job in any group A, B C or D service then he must not be allowed to get the benefit of reservation for that group of service like someone gets the job in class l service, then they should not be allowed to appear in group A exam for the better service as a reserved candidate. Similarly, if someone gets selected in group D service then he can't appear in group D exams but he can appear for higher groups like A, B or C as a reserved candidate, then only the benefits of reservation will reach the most deserving candidate instead of elite reserved candidates.

                Once the parents have availed the quota as reserve candidate then the immediate next generation shall not be given the benefit of reservation rather that seats shall go to the wards of more deserving parents of reserved category otherwise the benefit of reservation will continue to be availed by the small group of few lakhs of persons and tens of crores of weaker section of society will be deprived of this benefit.          

                Here no political party can force it rather the initiative shall come from the reserved categories' better off group, who can compromise their share for the benefits of the poorer and more deserving candidates of their community so that everyone gets the benefit of reservation rather only a specific group of elite community.
 

Ø  Creamy Layer for OBC

                There are many loopholes in the system and candidates can easily befool the administration and government agencies. It is pertinent to mention here few cases. In OBC quota there is a creamy layer as one criterion to get the benefit else you will be excluded, if your parents’ income is above a certain level. Almost all the Businessmen can easily hide their income and avoid paying taxes so that their wards can avail the benefits of reservation.  Rather, it is their moral responsibility to pay due taxes and give away the share of reservation to the more deserving candidates. The criterion of creamy layer is linked with the annual income rather it must also be linked to the liquid and immovable assets under possession of the parents. With reference to businessmen, those who manipulate their financial details and bypass the creamy layer criterion, it is difficult to catch such fake entries into the OBC quota.

                In case of service sector employees, the system is more fair because they are paid through cheques and every payment or salary is in records. but there are also multiple ways to cheat the system.  In one case if the salary of both the parents are just above the cut off limit of creamy layer then these parents take divorce on paper and live together and their wards get the benefit of OBC quota.

                In second case, if the one of the parents is above creamy layer then they show separation or divorce and the wards are dependent upon the maintenance given to other parent who is unemployed or poor.

                In continuation of the second case, the third one is similar to the previous one that the employed parents take VRS or resign so that his wards will get the benefit and once he or she gets selected then the parents immediately join the service if the lien period is available or otherwise.

Ø  Communities of Agrawal and Gupta

                There is also a disparity with in one community for reservation given by one state but same community is not given the reserved status by the other state. For example, Agarwal and Gupta which are better off communities across the whole country but they are given the OBC status in Bihar and Jharkhand but they are in general category in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. It is very surprising one joint family which partially migrated to Bihar or Jharkhand from MP or Rajasthan would be treated as the OBC in these states. It shall be reviewed by the central government and a common uniform list of OBC shall be declared by the centre so that the status of one caste would be same across all the states.

Ø  Quota for Economically Weaker Section (EWS)

                All the political parties, with exception of none, are using reservation as a tool for increasing their vote Bank. No one could dare to eliminate the reservation from the country. Removing reservation could not be in their interest nor it would be in the interest of the country till there are disparities of rich and poor, upper caste and Dalit and forward and backward. Instead of removing it, a better option would be to modify it in such a way that the benefit will be availed of by the most deserving candidates.

Ø  Expandable Quota for Non-General Categories

Women’s Reservation: Why it always fails?

               The most deserving form of reservation is the women's reservation. A recent effort by BJP led NDA is thwarted by other political parties.  Even in the last 30 years one party or the other tried hard so that this Bill could not be passed.  This reservation is more needed because it is not based on backwardness or economical angle so there is hardly any chance of fake entry and every household or family will get the benefit of it because women are inseparable part of the family. No family would be deprived of this benefit across the whole country.

                Perhaps the main reason for the failure of this bill is that the major chunk i.e. 33% is going for women. Had the proposed percentage be 15 to 20% then the bill would have been passed easily. In the male dominated society, it is difficult for men to accept the women are competing with them or even going ahead of them but gradually man can accept it, if women reservation starts with 15% or 20% quota instead of directly 33%.

                The reservation of women in Panchayati Raj, state Civil Services are implemented but Parliament, State Assembly and UPSC (Civil Services and other exams) are still starving for it. Even if it is implemented then also it must be a temporary measure for a limited period like 15 to 20 years, not a permanent solution for upliftment of women.

Ø  Fake Entry in UPSC Exams

                Even the UPSC does not have a fool proof system to detect the fake entry into Civil Services. Earlier the only key factor of detecting the case was date of birth to check the number of attempts.          Now it is Aadhar Card, even the multiple Aadhar cards can be obtained by candidates. Even many Bangladeshi immigrants obtained the Aadhar Cards. Recently many private agencies were caught distributing fake Aadhar cards.

                Even today in EWS cases no agency or government organisation is checking the complete financial status of parents for the last 5 years. The case of IAS lady officer of Pune is the proof of such loopholes in the selection of Civil Services.

                The surprising thing is that such cases often go undetected until a complaint is made by relatives or neighbours and an inquiry is conducted by the government. Only then do these cases come to the attention of the media and the public. Such complaints are often lodged by relatives or neighbours out of jealousy or in response to the ostentatious display of wealth and status by the selected officers.

Ø  Pune IAS case: An eye opener

               Apart from the bureaucratic setup similar benefit is also availed in the legislature too. The legislature is having the reservation only for SC/ST. In some of the cases, it is seen that some members of SC/ST have become the Member of Parliament or Member of Legislative Assembly 6 to 7 times. It means that only one family remains uplifted for years or decades. It is the moral responsibility of that member to give the chance to other well deserving poor person of that community. One tenure of MP or MLA is sufficient to uplift a family from the downtrodden to upper section of society and chance shall be given to other members of that community, instead of keep giving to same member. If this system continues in the future, the benefits of political reservation will continue to be enjoyed by a handful of people and others will remain weaker because the elite group of that community will not allow the weaker and more deserving candidate to come forward.

Ø  SC/ST Protection Act: Truly poor and supressed are unaware